High Noon
by Bigj200016
Summary: When Charlie gets a disturbing diagnosis, he must make the decision to join Bella in the world of the supernatural. This could bring the family even closer or start an all out war with the Quileutes,not to mention the Volturi who are still jealous of the Cullens. What's one to do? Post BD,Slight AU (find out why in chapter 2)Rating may change later, but will try to stay to 'T'
1. Check-Up

Hello all _Twilight_ fans out there. This is my first venture into this area, but I have done some stories with a similar theme to it in other properties. I have only read _Breaking Dawn_ , but seen all the films. If anything doesn't fit the books' plots, please let me know. And if any of you want to check out either my _Hotel Transylvania_ or _Women of the Otherworld_ stories, thank you for that as well.

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Prologue

In the past three and a half years since the Volturi allowed the Cullens to live in peace, everything had returned to normal. Garnett had returned to Denali with the rest of the coven and to everyone s surprise, adopted the vegetarian diet. Even more surprising to the Cullens was that several of the nomads had attempted the diet, and a few had stuck to it.

In addition, during the celebration of Bella and Edward's first wedding anniversary, there was a promise that Charlie insisted on from Bella and Edward; he asked that in the future they would tell him the entire truth about what had happened to her in the aftermath of their wedding. Edward was concerned of the repercussions from this, but Bella agreed. She felt that her father deserved the truth, even if he had to wait until he was on his death bed. Except that Esme and Alice had other plans.

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Chapter 1Check-up

Today was Renesmee's fourth birthday, but the child looked to be about ten. While her rate of growth had slowed significantly, she was still developing significantly faster than a human should. Most of the family's friends that could control themselves around humans would be attending the party. Renesmee had created a bond between many of the American covens, so the Denali vampires would be joining them. Also, Zafrina had decided to attend even though her sisters declined the invitation.

Last year, Benjamin and his mate Tia left the Egyptian coven to set out on their own. They had been looking for several other vampires to start their own coven with, but to this point had been unsuccessful. They decided to settle in South Africa, and had both adopted the vegetarian diet due to Benjamin's sense of morality. Tia still cheats a little bit, feeding on some humans, but tries to limit her kills to warlords in neighboring countries that targeted innocents, similar to how Edward acted during his rebellion. To Carlisle's pleasure, both of them would be attending the celebration.

Three humans also attended the festivities; they being Billy, Sue, and Charlie. Charlie had officially been told that his granddaughter simply has a genetic abnormality that results in her growth being at an accelerated rate, but Carlisle had told him that her growth had been slowing recently. Charlie wasn't stupid, and he saw Renesmee almost every day. He could tell how old she was developmentally and intellectually. Billy and Sue both knew the truth about her genetics, but still all three humans absolutely adored Renesmee.

Finally three wolves attended; Jacob, who was never separated from Renesmee for more than a few hours, Seth and Leah. All three of them had become fiercely loyal to the Cullens since that day facing the Volturi.

All of the supernatural beings had been socializing, while a few also talked to the humans. Charlie always felt uneasy around the vampires other than the Cullens, even if the Cullens thought that he wasn't sure of exactly what they were. But he was still guarded around strangers. Since Renesmee had been standing by her human grandfather most of the day to make him feel better about the strange beings present, the first vampire stranger he met was Zafrina. Charlie wasn't a short man, but the Amazonian towered over him. When first meeting the vampire, Charlie was terrified of this woman, and instinctively reached for his weapon which wasn't with him tonight. But after the woman spoke to his granddaughter, he was certain that she wouldn't hurt him.

Zafrina smiled at Charlie, a friendly smile and said, "You do not need to fear me. Anyone invited into the home of the Cullens is a friend of mine as well. I will not harm you."

Renesmee looked at her grandfather quizzicality. She couldn't believe that he would have thought that one of her friends would hurt her family. But after a minute, the girl realized why he was cautious around vampires he didn't know; it had been a struggle for her to resist the call of a strange human's blood. Once she learned that Charlie was her family, someone that her mother felt a deep connection to, she never felt the call of his blood. "Zafrina's really nice!" Renesmee shouted to her grandfather to vouch for her friend.

Charlie, confident in his safety after the testimony of his grandchild, extended his hand to this stranger who he hoped would soon be a friend to him also. She was stunning, an absolutely breathtaking beauty. Zafrina also extended her hand to his, and Charlie bent his waist to kill the back of her palm. "Charmed," he said smiling as he released her hand. The touch of her hand was strange. It was cold, sure, but it wasn't any different than when he did the same thing to Esme.

Charlie reached down at his granddaughter to pick her up. Since her parents tried to lie to him and tell him that she had some rare genetic disorder that resulted in her growth being exponentially faster than normal, so any chance he had that he could lift up Renesmee and hold her, he took advantage of. He still absolutely adored the girl, and so did Renee, even if the two rarely got to meet.

Renee was still madly in love with Phil, and the former ball player had realized that his career was not in playing, but coaching. He was the manager of a triple-a minor league team outside of Birmingham, AL, and had been talked about as a potential major league manager in the near future. Renee would come to see Renesmee any chance she had to come to the west coast, but she was not as excited to be a grandparent as Charlie was; she just wasn't ready for it yet.

While Charlie carried Renesmee around on his shoulders, she made an off the cuff remark, "Grandpa, you smell funny," followed by a giggle.

Charlie tried to laugh it off. He hoped that it was just something he ate that was still on his breath, but he was trying to think what it could have been.

Carlisle was across the room, but heard Renesmee's comment. He had been noticing a slight change to his scent the last year or so, and just assumed that it had to do with him aging. But tonight there was something else he noticed; Charlie had been wheezing a lot, and he seemed too out of breath for what he was doing.

"That's kinda mean, sweetie," Charlie said to Renesmee as he lowered her down.

"Sorry, grandpa," the girl apologized with a slight blush.

"It's okay, Nessie; papa still loves you." Charlie hugged the girl tightly. Renesmee returned the hug, accidentally touching his cheek which began to show him something through her eyes; the first time that she had done that to a human. Charlie gasped at first, but then smiled as he saw her view of his first meeting of Renesmee. "You're so special!" he said gladly hugging his granddaughter even closer to his heart, which still made Renesmee feel nothing but love; absolutely no desire for his blood.

Edward had heard the thoughts of Charlie, and was horrified of them. His daughter had used her gift, and shown him something. He rushed to the small group, and Renesmee leapt out of her grandfather's arms and ran to her approaching father at superhuman speed when he was still more than fifty feet from them.

"Nessie," Edward whispered to Renesmee so quietly that only those with superhuman hearing could hear it, "you can't do that to Charlie. He's not supposed to know about our secrets."

"Sorry, daddy," the girl apologized, at which by chance Carlisle approached the group.

Carlisle smiled at his son and granddaughter as he made it clear that at this time they were not his objective. "Whoa, Charlie you look a little off," the doctor said trying to explain what he had heard Renesmee say. "When's the last time you had a complete physical?"

Charlie looked questioningly at his in-law and had to think about it for a minute. "I don't know; maybe five years."

"Five years?" Carlisle questioned, sounding completely astonished. "My last appointment tomorrow is at 3:30; why don't you come in about four, and I'll check you out."

"I don't want to be a bother. I feel fine."

Carlisle sniffed again and he was certain of it. There was definitely something wrong with Charlie. His breathing was labored and there was a scent of decay coming from his breath, almost like something was rotting in his own body. "It's no trouble. I just want you to be there to see your granddaughter grow up."

The thought played loudly in Edward's head. "Why wouldn't I be around for another twenty or thirty years?" Charlie thought as he scratched his head. "I'm about as healthy as a horse; aren't I?"

Even still, Charlie lied slightly to Carlisle, "Okay Doctor, I'll take you up on your offer." He worried that Carlisle was right and there was something wrong with him, but he didn't show anything to him, even though Edward knew.

Carlisle smiled back at Charlie and the two laughed about it for a moment. Now Carlisle thought something that played in Edward's mind, "I hope it's nothing, but always better to be sure."

For Bella's sake, Edward hoped Carlisle thought was accurate and nothing was really wrong with Charlie, even though he suspected that something was off.

The next day Charlie worked his regular shift, leaving the police station about 15:30. He made it to Dr. Cullen's clinic in about fifteen minutes, and was greeted by Esme. She worked as his receptionist which was doable, since the office had no windows and his office complex had a parking garage. The two could be in shade the whole journey when humans would see them.

A little under five minutes later, a nurse came for Charlie. She was young, perhaps mid to late twenty's with long blonde hair that flowed to her mid back and a near flawless face; not as perfect as his daughter's had become in the last year, but still very good. The nurse did the tasks that would have been expected; his blood pressure was a little high, 135/98, but all things considered that wasn't unexpected. Charlie was a little overweight, but by no means obese, and his temperature was the within normal human range.

Charlie was left to sit alone for about five minutes before Carlisle entered the exam room. The two shook hands with a smile as he entered. "I'm sure it's nothing, but I just wanted to make sure," Carlisle said sounding a little worried.

This was a little worrying for Charlie. Carlisle always was positive and upbeat, but now he almost sounded morbid. "Thanks, Carlisle," Charlie said as his look began to match the doctor's.

Carlisle began by listening to his heart with his stethoscope; as good as could be expected for someone who was in their late forty's. No extra sounds or murmurs, but it was sounding strained. He moved his focus to Charlie's lungs, and Carlisle became concerned.

There was a noticeable wheeze and Charlie's lungs sounded as if they were not getting enough air in them. He proceeded through most other items that a routine physical would consist of before suggesting something that Charlie was not ready for.

"When's the last time you had a chest x-ray?" The doctor asked sounding concerned

"I don't know; why?"

"Were you ever around asbestos or did you ever smoke?"

Charlie was getting even more concerned. _Why would he be asking me these questions?_ Charlie thought as he said, "Never smoked, but asbestos," he thought for a moment before adding, "I don't think so."

"Did you ever work around ships?"

"No-" he started, but cut himself off. _Of course,_ he thought before saying, "After Renee left with Bells I joined the navy, but I was only in for like two years."

"On ships?"

"Yeah? What else would I do?"

Carlisle did the math in his head. The navy had begun removing asbestos in the late '70's, but if he was in the wrong specialty he could have been exposed to any number of carcinogens. "I'd like to make sure there is nothing wrong with your lungs. Can we get an x-ray?"

"Sure," Charlie said as concerned as Carlisle was. Carlisle had never been as concerned as he was now around Charlie, and it was making him uncomfortable. He hoped that the x-ray would eliminate Carlisle's concerns, but there was something on it that would change his life forever. Carlisle panicked when he saw the developed film. It was the first time in more than eighty years that he considered doing something that was extremely taboo, and could destroy the peace that they had worked so hard to establish with the Quileutes and also the love of his family. But the only reason he even considered it was for his family. He'd discuss it with them later, and there would be more besides them that needed to be spoken to. Doable, since Carlisle had suggested that they all go over the results together as a family, especially when blood work confirmed an even worse thing.

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Leaving a cliffhanger. Sorry cant resist. Please review and let me know what you think.


	2. Revealing the Truth

It's rare for me to do two chapters in a day, let alone two in a week, but I had diarrhea of the… well iPad, and I like where this ones at for now, so why not get it up and see what people think. Please review and I'd like it if you'd check out some of my other stories.

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Chapter 2Revealing the Truth

(Carlisle POV)

How do I even tell them this? How can I deliver a death sentence to someone who I care about so much? The results of the x-ray confirmed my greatest fear. Charlie had mesothelioma, very advanced lung cancer. I clearly saw a large tumor in his left lung, and cancer cells were in the blood sample that I had drawn a while ago. This indicated that the cancerous cells were metastasizing, and there was no real way to tell where they had traveled to without more extensive testing, nor how long he had left. But for Charlie's breath to smell the way it did indicated serious rot and decay inside his body. I knew that he didn't have long.

I had called the house and asked that anyone who hadn't hunted recently do so this evening early, since Charlie would be by about 20:00. None in the family wanted to risk his safety, especially Edward. We both knew how much Bella cared for Charlie, and that was why we agreed to stay around Forks for a while, at least until Nessie could make up her mind about who she wanted to live with; us or Jacob. It was possible, for Jacob to be an immortal, but he could never stop phasing since the wolves didn't age when they were still in the phasing stage. There had never been a record of a wolf not stopping phasing in the Quileute history or myths, but we hoped it was possible.

Esme and I returned home shortly before 18:00. To my relief, the only person I really wanted to be gone was; Bella was out with Jasper, Rosalie, and Edward. I felt a relief over me when I realized this was the case, because I could talk truthfully with everyone else first and judge their reaction.

"How was your day, dad?" I heard Alice ask me as she ran down the stairs. Well, run wasn't quite right as she leapt from the second floor all the way down to the first. I smiled at her, since she already knew the truth; one of the advantages of having a 'seer' in the house. Her look matched my; concerned and terrified at the same time, but also a glimmer of hope that everything would work out. Hope was not something she showed often, since she saw many future events but this time it was in her eyes.

"Good until the end," I answered trying to hide as much as possible from everyone else in the house. Alice knew why I was being deceptive, I wanted to ask for Jacob's council and also my family's before considering any course of action on Charlie.

"Carlisle what's wrong?" Esme asked me sounding extremely worried. "You're never that quiet on the way home after work."

I smiled at her and asked, "Can we wait until Jacob is here?"

To my relief, my mate nodded in agreement to me. I smiled back, but not my normal one. This one was one of concern that was trying to deceive her.

Jacob arrived about five minutes later. Alice said Charlie had gotten a call he had to respond to immediately, but would be by after that. She saw him arriving as the moon passed its highest point in the sky tonight. With the current phase of the moon, that would be shortly after nine. 'Great, another hour,' I thought.

"Carlisle, what's wrong?" I heard Jacob ask immediately after phasing back into human. We had kept a change of clothes for him in our garage so he could redress when coming over to see Bella or Nessie, so he was in a pair of shorts and a plain white t-shirt.

"I wanted to tell you first. Charlie is really sick," my tone sounded upset about the way I had to put it, since I didn't know how far away the hunting group was and I didn't want Bella to know about this right now.

Jacob's reaction matched mine. He was very worried about what I was trying to say. "What do you mean, 'really sick'?"

I didn't breathe often, but I needed a deep breath to gain the confidence to tell him. "He has lung cancer; very advanced and aggressive cancer."

Jacob lost almost all of his color. He knew what I was trying to tell him, that the cancer was terminal and he didn't have long left. "Is there anything you can do doc?"

I almost couldn't say it, so just shook my head. "Not without…"

"Could you save him if you… you know?"

I knew what he was suggesting, and was actually glad he broached it first. "It would, but I wanted to know what the pack would say first. We still have a treaty."

I saw Jacob's expression change. He looked like he was furious that I'd even think that they wouldn't approve of it. "You think I want to see Bells or Nessie hurt?" Jacob snapped back to me, which I was actually glad for. He made his decision.

"What about Sam?" I asked worried about what the other alpha would say.

"I'll take care of Sam," Jacob answered back. "I'm more worried about Sue."

Alice stepped up. There was no reason to hide conversations from her of Edward since either of them would sense the topic and she would even see the result through her foreshadowing, even if the exact words might be unknown. "Sue doesn't feel that way about Charlie and neither does he," Alice answered Jacob. "They see each other as friends, but nothing more than that; almost the way you and Bella now see each other."

I knew the way Jacob felt about Bella in the past, but now was aware that it had to do with the possibility of Nessie being born. That was what kept Bella from ever returning the affection that Jacob so obviously felt for her; she didn't feel that way about Jacob. "I just don't want to see Sue get hurt again, especially when a bloodsucker already killed her husband."

Alice shook her head. The best thing I could do was to let her tell him the truth about Charlie and Sue's. "Charlie is still in love with Renee even though she isn't in love with him, and Sue is still loyal to Harry for a reason I think you'll understand."

I looked at Jacob, who was lost in thought. He didn't know what Alice was trying to insinuate. "What are you trying to say?" Jacob asked sounding more annoyed than upset.

"You really don't know?" Alice asked to Jacob. I wondered if I needed to know this, and contemplated leaving the two of them to discuss it. Jacob shook his head; it was clear he had no clue what Alice was referring to. "Did you think that Leah was the first female wolf?"

Jacob was absolutely stunned. "You mean she's not?" Alice shook her head in reply. I saw Jacob's head spinning trying to figure out who could have been before Leah, but could quite make the connection. "The werewolf gene is passed down from father to son… isn't it?"

"I see when all of you phase for the first time, and while you able to I can't see your futures until you stop. I can recall all of my visions, and remember one female phasing before Leah." We both waited for Alice to tell us, but by now I had figured it out. "Sue was the first, but since we were the only vampires here she didn't keep the ability long, but while she could she imprinted on Harry. Seth and Leah got the wolf gene from both of them."

"So that means that…" Jacob really didn't know what that meant. It was rare that the wolf who imprinted on someone lived longer that the other by more than a few months. "What does it mean?" He finally asked after a couple of awkward moments.

"She'll never love anyone like she loved Harry," Alice answered. "They we're both wolves, so their imprint was the strongest of any."

"Let me go talk to Sam and some of the elders and see what they think, but even if they say 'yes', are you going to tell Charlie what you're gonna do, or…"

I cut off Jacob by shaking my head. "I hate to change anyone without their consent. In Edward's case, his mother begged me to do whatever it took to save him. I should have asked him, but I didn't that time. Esme was only semi-conscious when I bit her, but I had the vampire version of imprinting on her. I don't think she regrets it. The only one that I still truly regret changing was Rosalie. I just didn't know how much she regretted it until recently. I won't do that to Charlie; I'll tell him the whole truth beforehand, and if he decides to go through with it, then it will be his decision to do it, as well as who bites him."

"Who do you think he'll choose?" Jacob asked to Alice and also me.

"I can't see until a decision has been made," Alice answered with a shrug. "I can only vaguely picture Charlie preparing to be bitten, but beyond that nothing else."

I thought about the most logical choices. "If I had to speculate, it would be either Bella, Edward, or myself. There are good reasons for all three. I have the experience, while Bella is his daughter."

"Why not Nessie?" Jacob asked completely surprised why he'd include Edward on the list, but not his granddaughter.

I shook my head in response, "Nessie doesn't produce venom, or at least not yet. I'll keep taking swabs from her mouth every few months more as a precaution to you since vampire venom is lethal to werewolves."

"Thanks, doc," he said sounding grateful that I was concerned for his wellbeing. "Okay, so Nessie's out, but why would he want Edward do it?"

"Keep the family angle, without making his own daughter do it," Alice answered for me, to which I nodded in confirmation.

"I don't know what Sam will say, but I'll ask. I think I also have to run it by Sue and Billy, too."

I nodded again. I was glad that he was at least willing to consider it. I knew that it wasn't for me, but for Nessie. He couldn't stand making her say goodbye to her grandfather so soon, and with such short notice. But I was worried about what would happen with Charlie when we told him to whole truth, but I could see that Alice was hiding something from me; something that she had no intention of sharing at the present time. Jacob left to phase so he could return to the reservation quickly; he would talk to Sam and Billy about it when he returned and with any luck be back before we gave Charlie the news.

I heard the hunting group returning. They rushed the house, and cleaned themselves since they knew we had company coming. "How'd it go?" I asked to Edward who was first to return to the family room.

"You're not thinking of doing what you're thinking about, are you?" Edward asked at a whisper. I could see the look on his face suggesting terror. "We can't do that to Charlie."

I assume he only heard the fact that I was considering propositioning him, and nothing else. "I have my reasons, and just leave it at that. Please Edward, don't say anything to the family until they hear everything."

I thought of why this the offer was necessary, and Edward looked even more upset. Secretly, I knew he always liked Charlie and a part of him hoped that there was a way for him to stay in Bella's life. But we both knew that this was the only way, and the only way we could even think about it was in a situation like this.

Luckily Renesmee was tired, and went to sleep early. We had kept a bed for her in the house in Edward's old room. She was asleep by 20:45. Less than ten minutes later, I heard the sound of Charlie's police cruiser turn off the highway and onto the road that led to our home.

Charlie knocked on the door, and I let about thirty seconds pass before answering the door. "Charlie thanks for coming," I said to him warmly as I shook his hand. It still surprised me in the past few years when Charlie never acted like my hands were cold when I touched him.

"So doc, what'd ya find?" Charlie asked directly as I led him into the room with the rest of the family. "And why didn't you just tell me earlier today."

"I thought it'd be better if all of the family found out together," I suggested trying to cover the real reason for the delay. "Charlie, I still hate to tell this to anyone, but especially people who I care for immensely. I'm sorry, but it's worse than I ever could have imagined. You have cancer."

I saw Charlie blanch and he collapsed. He would have collapsed on the floor, but Esme moved at superhuman speed to catch him. Charlie never appeared to lose consciousness, but didn't seem surprised at Esme's actions. I turned my glance to Edward, who was scowling at Esme and Alice. I thought I knew why, but was just guessing. "Thanks, Es," Charlie said as Esme helped him to stable himself and sat him on the couch next to Bella.

"You're welcome Charlie," Esme said as she gave him a slight peck on the cheek.

I wasn't the only one who noticed that Esme may have given away our secret. While it was true that we kept Charlie on a 'need to know' basis, he was never to learn of exactly what we were. However it appeared that he knew a lot about what we did, and could do. I was still trying to explain any other possibilities to his actions around Zafrina any other way and could not do it.

Charlie had gained some of his color back, and was able to ask the follow-up question that one normally asks after a bad diagnosis, "So what do we do doc; chemo, radiation, what?"

I could only shake my head. There was nothing that really could be done. "No Charlie, it's too late. The cancer's already metastasized somewhere. The blood test showed the cancer cells in your blood, and without knowing for sure where it has gone, and possibly still going, the wrong course of treatment could be fatal."

I always hated to be the executioner; that's why I hated to drink human blood, even from the worst of the worst. Being a doctor didn't help any, as I told him, "I'm really sorry about this Charlie, but I only think you have three months left. Six tops."

If vampires were able to cry, there probably wouldn't have been a dry eye left. Bella was hugging her father, not knowing for sure how much longer she would be able to do that. I felt absolutely horrible about the way things had transpired, but was grateful that Renesmee had suggested what I suspected for a long time; that something was wrong with Charlie.

Bella was as close to tears as was possible for a vampire, while trying to hug her dad strongly enough to let him know how much she cared, while at time trying not to hurt his much weaker human body.

"Stop it Jasper!" I heard Bella shout, and could guess what Jasper was trying to do. He was doing his best to make his sister-in-law feel better. I shook my head in agreement with Bella, but secretly was grateful for what he was trying to do and so was Edward.

I took a sniff of the air and could smell Jacob coming back, and he was not alone. Sam and Billy were coming with him in Bella's old truck, which Edward had sold back to the Blacks as a token of friendship when Edward bought Bella her 'before' car. I went outside to meet them in private, more to give Bella some time with her father. Alice was hugging Bella also, trying to make her feel better, so only Edward and I went outside.

We saw Sam and the Jacob setting up Billy's chair and helping him into it. I smiled at how quickly they got to the house. "Hello Billy," I said as I shook his hand.

Billy did not smile in reply, but rather he looked terrified of what I had asked Jacob to ask him. "Carlisle, I know you wouldn't be proposing this if it wasn't such a dire situation, but what do we do if he can't control himself?"

"Then that is on me, and I will destroy him myself," I answered in reply, but unknowingly thought of why I suspected that Charlie would be okay as a newborn.

Edward looked incensed at me. "You've gotta be kidding me. You want to bite Charlie to test a theory!" He had never snapped at me like that, even when he left after I bit him.

"No Edward," I answered to his criticism. "I want to change him to save him. Testing my theory is simply secondary."

Sam and the Blacks looked confused about what Edward had heard me think. Billy inquired for all of them, "So what do you want to test on him?"

I wanted to lie, but realized to get their approval the truth was probably the best course of action. "I always wondered why Bella had such an easy time as a newborn. There were three possibilities: one was in her genetics, second was that she was prepared to be bitten and wanted to, and finally was that it was simply her. With Charlie we could at least test the genetics, since it is her father."

I happened to notice Esme standing on the balcony listening to us talk. When she heard my last answer, she realized that my first hypothesis wasn't the only one that I could test on Charlie, but I could also test the second.

Edward had heard Esme's thoughts and growled at her. "How could you?!" He snapped. "Do you realized the danger that you've put all of us in?"

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What did Esme do that ticked off Edward so much, and does anyone else know about it? And what do the Quileutes say about Carlisle's proposal? The answer to these questions will be in the next chapter.


	3. The Whole Truth

Chapter 3  
The Whole Truth

(Charlie's POV)

I sat on the couch after Carlisle and Edward had went outside. My hearing may not be all that great, but I could hear the sound of a car door slam, so I assumed that someone had arrived that the two of them wanted to talk to alone first. Bella and Alice still sat around me, and Jasper was in the far corner of the room. Something on his face suggested guilt. I was still trying to figure out why Bella snapped at him the way she did.

Bella held on to me really tightly, almost as if she never wanted to let go for fear that I die the instant she let me go. Alice had her arm around Bella to offer her support. I knew that those two saw each other as sisters since my baby girl met Edward, and it made me feel great that she found a great girl friend who was kind of a kindred spirit.

The talking outside was turning louder. I could hear what sounded like Edward's voice almost shouting now. I wondered why he was getting upset like he was. I was the one who was dying; there was no reason for him to be mad at anyone that was outside.

Bella was holding me even closer, and dry crying was coming from her. It felt weird; to have her sobbing on my shoulder without any tears touching my skin, but I thought that was what Alice was there for. I wanted nothing more for this to not have to end, but Alice jumped up about another minute later.

My glance turned to Alice who looked scared about something. This wasn't normal for her, since every time I saw her she always had a smile on her face. Something was happening outside that scared her, and she ran outside to see what was going on. I also wiggled my way out of Bella's arms and went outside to see what was going on.

When I got outside, I saw Edward in an all-out argument with his mother. The first words I heard were from Edward, "Volturi find out! If we're lucky, they'll just kill him." I knew that I had missed something.

Esme was too calm for the argument. She looked stoic, almost statuesque not moving a muscle other than her lips. She was completely calm in her reasoning. "They won't find out. That's why I waited until after the thing with Nessie before I even thought about talking to him."

Several thoughts entered my head at the same time. Who was this 'Volturi' that Edward spoke about and why would they want to kill anyone? And how could Esme be so calm with something as 'life-and-death' as this. "What 'thing' with Nessie?" I demanded of Esme.

"Oh shit!" I heard Edward yell as he noticed that I was outside. He looked right at me, and gave me a predatory glance. For the first time in my life, I was actually afraid of my son-in-law, and wondered if what Esme had told me about herself was also true about the whole family. "Shit, shit, shit!" He yelled just above a whisper. It was faint, but I still heard it. "How long have you known?" He asked me back at a more normal volume.

I looked sympathetically at Esme wondering if I should tell him the truth. She nodded in confirmation; he needed to know the truth. I took a deep breath to relax myself before saying clearly, "About three years now."

"Three years?!" The roared question came from both Edward and Bella. I nodded in reply.

"Dad, why didn't you tell me?" My daughter asked me as she was still trying to cry as she rushed back to hug me.

Even though she couldn't shed tears now, that didn't mean that I wasn't. I knew that this day would come, I just wasn't ready for it to be now. "Esme and Alice begged me not to say anything about it; to not even think about knowing when I was with you and Edward. Every time I saw you two, I just thought about how much I love Nessie and how much I want you two have the happiness that I never got with Renee."

"When did mom tell you?" Esme smiled as Bella called her mom as Esme nodded at me. She was telling me that it was okay to tell them everything, so I would.

* * *

Flashback to the day Esme and Alice told Charlie the truth, day after Bella and Edward's first wedding anniversary party

I was sitting in my house alone. Esme and Carlisle had given Bella and Edward a second honeymoon, somewhere in South America and they left after the party that Alice had thrown. I had just gotten back from fishing the Columbia River with Billy. First time in more than three years that I had been completely skunked when fishing. I mean not even a nibble all day after more than four hours in Billy's boat. But the good thing was that it gave us time to talk about a lot of things, central among them was a new found interest I had in Quileute lore and myth.

Even though I came back empty handed, I still enjoyed myself. Billy was my best friend and the only one who still liked to go fishing with, ever since Harry died. Something always seemed off about that; I mean Harry was relatively healthy, but to have a heart attack that sudden with no obvious cause. Just fishy.

I was sitting down to watch the Mariners game that evening. Nothing too out of the ordinary for one of my days off; fishing, watching a baseball game, and maybe a little target shooting if it got out of hand. About the third inning, there was a knock on my door, and I got up to see who it would be at the current hour. I was shocked when Alice and Esme were at the door.

"Hey guys," I greeted them with welcoming hugs; their routine, not mine.

"Hey Charlie," Alice said still in the hug we shared before separating. "It's just that," Alice sighed as she thought about what they were doing. I could tell that she was stalling, hoping that someone might come to stop them, but no one did. "I know how you made Bella promise to tell you the whole story someday and," but she was cut off.

Esme looked as nervous as Alice but took over for her daughter, "And I'm really tired of lying to you and so is Alice. But the only way we can tell you is if you know that there might be a price to ending your ignorance."

Great now they're gonna insult me. But then again didn't the old saying go that 'ignorance was bliss' and with as little as I know I should have been completely blissful. Don't get me wrong, I had a great family; terrific in-laws, and a beautiful granddaughter who was incredibly talented, even if having something genetically wrong with her that caused her growth to be too fast. I laughed as I quipped, "This isn't one of those 'I could tell ya, but then I'd have to kill ya' things, is it?"

The two of them both joined in my chuckle, but then amazingly Alice, in complete seriousness said, "Maybe, if the wrong people find out that you know. But were both so tired of lying to you, and I know that Bella feels the same way."

Okay, this was seriously creeping me out. Sure I was a police officer and I've seen a lot of mob TV shows, but this was almost too weird. Alice sounded dead serious; okay maybe a bad pun, but you get my point. She wanted to tell me something involving my family that could get me killed. Did I want to know that? Did I need to know? I looked at both of them and they looked like they knew the answer; I did.

I nodded in confirmation of what Alice had warned if she told me the truth. If could have a high price, but I was willing to pay anything to make my family feel better. "Okay, Alice. I'll accept the consequences of you telling me."

I had never seen this side of Alice before; her smile was even brighter and wider than I had ever noticed, and she rushed back to my side way too quickly. Then she hugged me tightly; I mean really tightly. So tight that I was going to have bruises on my sides for a week after she left, but that didn't mean that it didn't feel good when she did it. She even lifted me off my feet. How was that possible? Alice was at most 120 pounds, and here she was lifting me, a well… 220 pound man in her arms without so much as a grunt or strain or anything.

As we parted she said in a tone that I never heard from her before, almost an octave higher than usual and it rang in my ears like a bell, "Just know that no matter what you hear, you're one of our family and we'll do our best to make sure that no one hurts you. Deal?"

I smiled, love replacing the shock that I had been feeling from the last few minutes. "What do you mean 'that no one hurts me'?"

Esme was now hugging me in almost the same way that Alice had a moment ago, but much gentler. Even she lifted me off the ground too. "You remember when Jacob showed you what he could do?" Esme asked me, her voice also like Alice's, about a half an octave higher but still sounding as beautiful as ever.

I could see why Carlisle fell in love with her; she looked like an angel and her voice was even more intoxicating. I nodded as how could anyone forget a boy that I had known for most of his life had turned into a wolf, but then lay at my panicked self, like he wanted me to pet him or something. "Kinda hard to forget something like that," I laughed out nervously.

Esme smiled back at me, "Yeah, I guess it would be. The wolves normally protect humans from our kind."

'Our kind'? I wondered. What the hell was she getting at; what was she? And more so, why did she say what she did, 'protect humans'? My mind was wandering as I started to back away from them. Something was way off here, and I was getting really scared of what was going to happen.

Alice looked hurt, which crushed me. I stopped for just a second, feeling guilty for hurting someone who had been nothing but kind to me and my daughter since she met her. My confidence restored, I was able to able to apologize to Esme and Alice. They'd never hurt me, and I knew that.

Esme looked happy again, and was able to continue her story. "Yes, the Quileutes protect humans from most of our kind, but not from us. We don't hurt people as a rule unless there is no other choice."

My mind was still racing. What the hell were they?

Alice answered my question, sounding more serious than I ever heard someone before in my life, "We're vampires, all of us. Bella had to be changed into one after having Nessie, since she was a half-breed. If Edward hadn't done what he did, Bella wouldn't be here."

"V-v-vam-vampires?" I stuttered as my color left my face. I was almost terrified of them because I believed them. Everything now made sense. It explained a lot, even though it was still difficult to grasp completely. I never saw them eat, and could never remember them outside in the sunlight. But vampires weren't real; were they?

"Charlie, it's true," Esme cried out as she rushed to me again, wrapping her arm around my back.

I could tell that she feared that I wouldn't believe her, but something in me knew that one wouldn't lie about something like this. If she was saying it, it was probably true. "Okay then, where are your fangs or are you gonna turn into a bat or something like that?" I quipped trying to lighten the mood, but neither of their faces looked like they were kidding.

"Well we don't have fangs, but our teeth are sharp enough to cut through anything," Esme said trying to explain what she could. "And that whole 'turning into a bat' thing is complete nonsense, we are what we are."

"So that's why Jacob joked that Bella wished she was cool enough to turn into something," I whispered under my breath, but they both heard it and chuckled. I always like to see those two smile more than anyone else in their family.

"I guess, but we can prove it to you if you'd like," Alice offered expecting that I'd want some way to be shown they were different.

By now, I was seriously thinking that either this was a really sick joke or they were being completely candid. For some reason I suspected the latter was most likely the truth. "So does that mean Nessie is…"

"Nessie is half-vampire," Alice answered my thought. "What we said about her having a genetic disorder was that she is a half breed; there's nothing wrong with her."

I sat on the couch still feeling a little stunned, but coming closer to believing them. It was about five minutes later when I finally was reminded of their offer to prove it. "Okay," I said no longer completely skeptical, "how can you prove it to me?"

"How about a run," Esme said sounding completely sure that this would prove it to me.

I looked at my watch; it was past 22:00 and was way too late to go for a run. "Maybe tomorrow morning," I answered trying to put them off since I absolutely hated running.

"Come on, Charlie," Alice offered pulling me off the couch. If she pulled any harder, she might have pulled my arm out of the socket, so I relented and went out with them. "And besides, I'm starting to get thirsty."

"I'll get ya a glass of water if you want. I wouldn't want you to get dehydrated while were out running."

Alice laughed at me, "I don't need water, silly; I meant thirsty for blood. That's all we drink."

I turned as white as a ghost at what she said, "I…I…I thought you said that you wouldn't let anyone hurt me," I stuttered out completely terrified of them for the first time.

"Oops!" Alice yelped embarrassed that I had misunderstood her. "We don't drink human blood. Sorry if I scared you. I'm so embarrassed."

"Oh," I gasped relieved, feeling safer around them than I had in a while. "So where you want to run to?"

"I don't know," Esme said sounding as gentle as ever, "how bout the coast?"

"The coast?" I uttered stunned. It was more than twenty miles each way to the ocean. I wasn't a distance runner by any means, and that was way too long for me to go.

"Yeah," Alice said excited, "I haven't seen the coastline in more than a decade. Just hop on, Charlie."

"Hop on?" I asked. Did she really expect me to jump on her back? I was surprised when I stood there for a minute only to have someone lift me up and now carrying me. "Hey!" I yelled stunned.

"Shh," Alice whispered to me as I was on her back, still sounding like she had all night, "you're gonna wake the neighbors and we don't have all night."

The run to the ocean took less than five minutes. I had never traveled that fast in my life, and I have to admit that it was kinda cool. The cool evening breeze on my face felt great, even if I did get whipped a few times by branches that actually scraped me and made me bleed in a few places. To my surprise, Esme and Alice didn't even notice; either they had no affinity for human blood or had remarkable self control. I didn't know which, but I wasn't in a huge hurry to find out.

Alice sat me on the beach and we talked for a few minuted about the reason that they were so afraid to tell me the truth; that a ruling cabal of vampires had forbidden the revelation of their kind to humans, and it was punishable by death to the human.

"My god!" I screamed, terrified that they had just sentenced me to death by some vampire police force. "I thought that you said that you wouldn't let anyone hurt me?"

"We won't," Esme countered. "I don't intend to ever tell them, and if they find out… well they did give Bella the option of being transformed into a vampire."

"Trans…formed?" I stuttered again. "So does that mean that Bella is?"

Alice smiled and nodded, "Yep she's just like us now, and she and Edward have eternity together."

At that there was a rustle in the branches of the forest that butted up to the coast. Alice sniffed the air and caught the scent of something that was completely intoxicating to her. "Yum…dinner," Alice said greedily.

Esme lifted me and carried me behind Alice as she stalked and then caught her meal; a large buck. I saw the entire thing and was completely in awe of how powerful she was. It was graceful; the way the leapt onto the animal, and even the way she bit through the fur to reach the neck of the deer. But at no point while seeing this did I feel scared of either of them. I believed everything they said; that they would never intentionally hurt me. I knew they were right because of how much they both loved Bella and Nessie, and they would never do anything to upset me.

The two women switched places, so that it was Alice who carried me while Esme caught a doe. If anything, Esme's motions were even more graceful than Alice's. The two returned me to my house, and begged me never to tell anyone what I had seen that night. Of course, I agreed. I cared too much for both of them to ever put them in jeopardy. The also asked for one other condition, that when I saw Edward that I couldn't think about knowing the truth. And even more than that I couldn't think about hiding it since he'd see that too. I was advised by Alice that the safest course of action would be to think about how much I loved Nessie, since Edward would definitely believe that, and I really did love Renesmee anyway.

* * *

I had finished telling the story of when I first found out the truth about the Cullens. The most surprised was Jasper, followed by Carlisle. The doctor looked relieved about something, and I could tell that he was grateful for the way that I handled the truth. He leapt up to the balcony from the driveway, something I was completely in awe of and shook my hand.

"Thank you," Carlisle said to me with a smile on his face, "for listening to the truth. But now it's my turn to ask you something." Carlisle turned to Jacob and Sam to ask them, "I assume the packs are okay with me proposing this to Charlie?"

Sam and Jacob looked at Billy and all three of them nodded in unison. "We are," all of them said at the same time, with Jacob adding, "as long as Charlie agrees."

"Charlie, there's only one thing that can possibly save you now," Carlisle said in a serious voice, with a voice that sounded lower than normal. But that was not to say that his voice wasn't even more beautiful than I had ever heard it before. "Will you allow us to turn you into a vampire?"

I was about to answer, but Edward interrupted my thoughts. "Don't answer yet. Let us tell you what you're in for before you choose, because we want your informed consent."

Carlisle nodded to me. Man, this was going to be a long night. Thank god I didn't have to work in the morning.


	4. And Nothing But the Truth

**Author's Note** : I got an idea in my head for a direction in the story, but want other's opinions. If any of you could help me out, please PM me. Thanks.

This chapter's kind of shorter since I didn't want to retell story's from the books.

* * *

Chapter 4  
And Nothing but the Truth

(Bella's POV)

No! I thought. I couldn't let Charlie go through with this; it's just too painful to make him go through. And did I really want to have to see my dad as a newborn, even if it was the only thing that could save him? The answer to this was definitely no, but I couldn't just think about myself. Was it right for Charlie? For Sue? Then the real reason hit me; what about Renesmee? Could I honestly make her say goodbye to her grandpa now; someone that she absolutely loves and who adores her too? I thought of her first sentence and knew.

Everyone had gone back inside and was still talking about what Charlie would expect if he went through with it. Billy and Sam had left since their role had been completed, but Jacob stayed because he was a part of the family… kind of. The look on my dad's face terrified me; he was seriously considering it. I should have known he would, since I could understand how much he loved Renesmee since he learned the truth about us. In the past three years, he acted differently than he had before our first anniversary. The knowledge that Alice and Esme shared with him was why, and I was surprised that he took it as well as he did. And I beginning to wonder if I should have told him myself earlier.

"Now Charlie," Carlisle said sounding supportive, "we're still not sure if this will be painless, but there are advantages to going through with it. You will be immortal and almost indestructible; you'll gain speed and strength the likes of which you could only dream about. But there are some drawbacks."

Charlie smiled at what he was hearing about the advantages, but no one had yet told him the downsides.

Edward frowned from what Carlisle had said. I remembered why he had been so reluctant to change me and I heard him say, "Your soul."

"What?" Charlie asked with his mouth wide.

"Would you be willing to give up your soul?"

I knew that Charlie wasn't a religious person. He celebrated Christmas and Easter because it was expected, so the notion of giving up an eternal part of himself didn't phase him. And he saw that I was still me after my change. He shrugged at Edward's question.

"So how's it work?" Charlie asked to anyone who'd be willing to explain. Thank goodness that Edward was about to start telling him about the process.

"One of us bites you and then licks closed the wound. This ensures that the venom is stuck inside of you with no way to escape. Or we could try like I did with Bella; injecting the venom directly into your heart. Either way, it will work its way into you bloodstream, where it will go to your heart and begin the track through your arteries until it touches every last cell; regular and cancerous. It changes all of normal ones, while completely killing the cancerous ones and healing any injury or illness that you have or have ever had. This continues until the venom begins to replicate through you bone marrow, much like the production of your current blood cells. It takes about two to five days as the venom flows through you circulatory system until the venom no longer encounters unchanged cells at which point your heart stops and you begin your new life as a vampire."

I couldn't believe that Edward had learned this much. I mean how many vampires were there anyway? And how could they know exactly how the transformation happens. Charlie was still listening to Edward and Carlisle rattle on facts about the transformation until they said that they could make it almost painless with drugs. But I knew that they were wrong. Mine was hardly painless and all the morphine in my system did was make me unable to scream or do anything but suffer.

"Bella, since you've gone through it most recently why don't you tell Charlie about your experience," someone offered. Was it Carlisle, or Edward? I was so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't heard who said it.

"Huh?" I asked hoping one of them would repeat it.

To my relief, Carlisle did repeat himself, "Please tell Charlie about your transformation."

I was lost in my thoughts about what I should do. Did I tell him to truth or would it be better to lie to him? How bad did I want my dad to go through this; would telling him the truth change his decision in any way, or had he already made up his mind? My vampire mind worked through all of these questions in remarkable time. Maybe five seconds passed before I started to tell him the truth.

"It was warm, too warm then hot. I felt something sharp go into my chest, there was a sudden heat in my body that continued to get hotter and hotter and I couldn't stop it. All I could do was let me burn me from the inside out and pray that it would stop soon. It was a long time, and I had no way to know how to count it. Seconds had no meaning, so once I could hear them I settled on counting breaths. I couldn't tell who's though, but it was 38,023 breaths until the burning finally stopped."

I saw Carlisle grimace. I had never told him the truth about my time during the transformation, so he had thought that the drugs he gave me had helped with the pain. If anything they seemed to make it worse, although I don't know how it could have possibly been any worse than it was. I've never thought of what being burned alive would feel like, but now I have a guess; not that I'm in a hurry to find out.

"I'm sorry Bella," Carlisle said sounding very upset. "I had no idea that you experienced that. Maybe there just isn't a way to lessen the discomfort from the transformation like I had hoped."

Great, now I'm getting a guilt trip. Carlisle tried to make it feel better, and I thank him for that, but it still sucked. But if my dad was going to go through with it then I thought he needed all the information he could have. "Burning," I said, sitting next to him on the couch. I remembered all of the pain. That was the sharpest memory from my time before being reborn as a vampire. "All I really remember about that time was burning. It felt like my blood had been replaced by molten steel, and my skin felt like charcoal." Then I thought about what really got me through it; two people. "If not for Alice telling me that I'd be gorgeous and that'd I'd be fine, I don't know if I would have had the strength to fight for myself. And Renesmee. Thank god for Renesmee; she gave me the reason I needed to put up with the absolute hell I was in."

"I think I can handle the pain," Charlie quipped as he rubbed my back. Even though his skin felt blazing to me, it still felt great to have him trying to make me feel better. I smiled; nothing had changed between us in the last 4 years. I was still his baby girl.

Dad always did have a high pain threshold, so I didn't doubt that he would think that he could handle that. But he really didn't know what he was thinking about subjecting himself to. I tried to think of a way to anecdotally tell him what he was going to go through. A minute later I thought of one, "Dad think of it as how you boil a frog." Charlie nodded at me; he knew what I was going to say, because he had said it to me many times.

"What are you talking about, love?" Edward asked me. "Why would anyone want to boil a frog?"

Charlie looked at me knowing that I almost never told the story just right, so he would. "You can't just throw a live frog into a boiling pot of water, because it will jump out. But if the water starts out tepid, and the heat is increased slowly, the frog will stay in the water until it's too late, and it's literally cooked."

Edward nodded after Charlie had told the story in his mind, waiting to say anything until he finished speaking it. I was grateful, since it meant that he wouldn't be interrupted and have to start over again. I chuckled at the thought of how bad my dad was with short-term memory; if he were to go through with it, that wouldn't ever be a problem again or would it?

"It's kind of like that,"Emmitt said to Charlie. They had all been accepting that he was seriously considering it. "Carlisle tried the morphine trick on me, but he bit me too close to when he gave me the drugs. The venom travels much faster than anything he could give you and it will seal your veins shut so pain killers don't have a chance to help." I saw Emmitt grimace as he had to be thinking about when Carlisle bit him. "Thank goodness that I had Rose to help me get through it."

I saw the wheels still turning in Charlie's head. He was considering it and I really couldn't blame him. But we still hadn't told him about after the change; what about life as a newborn. Could he stand to be away from Renesmee for a year; maybe more than that? What about Billy and Sue?

Edward looked at me sympathetically. Was my shield down and could he read my thoughts? As if he knew what really worried me about Charlie going through with it, he added, "Of course the transformation is only the first part. The newborn year can be hell."

"Newborn year?" Charlie asked, beginning to sound more worried.

"During the first year as a vampire, they normally lack control," Carlisle explained to Charlie. "Although Bella was different; no sooner was she reborn that she had total control of her emotions and feelings. I even think she would have been okay meeting you even sooner than she did."

I frowned; I still remember how hard that first meeting with Charlie was. The thirst was difficult to deal with but it wasn't unbearable. Even when I smelled him, I was able to remember that he was my dad. I didn't think if biting him once that day. And here was my father thinking about going through the absolute hell of not just the change, but also being a newborn.

"How'd you deal with it, Bells?" Charlie asked me as he still held on to me.

"Carlisle thought that super self control was my gift, but actually I'm a shield."

Charlie interrupted me, "A what?"

"A shield," Edward butted in which made me growl slightly, but not loud enough that Charlie could hear. "Most vampires have gifts that develop, and a shield is a general term that applies to defensive gifts. For example, I can read minds, Alice can see the future, and Jasper can manipulate emotions?"

"Wait, Alice can see the future?" Charlie asked at which Alice nodded and smiled. "So can you see if I go through with it?"

Alice shook her head, "Not really. My power can predict what one will do, but my visions can change if someone makes a different decision than I expect. I can see several possibilities for you."

"Thanks, Alice," Charlie said as he gave Alice a friendly hug. Charlie looked back at Carlisle and Edward who had been standing perfectly still for the last twenty minutes. Since Charlie knew the secret, there was no reason for them to continue the charade they had for him in the past. "So what's so hard about being new?"

"Newborns can be overwhelmed by their thirst," Edward answered. "I remember my first year, all I could think about was trying to stop it any way I could. Animal blood, human, didn't matter to me; I just wanted to quench it but it wouldn't stop."

Carlisle took over for Edward, "Another problem is that as a newborn, you'll be much stronger than anyone else here and, most likely, you won't have total control of your emotions for a few months." Carlisle smiled at me. "Bella was an extraordinary exception as she had control of herself front he day she woke."

"Should I know anything else?"

"If you go through with it," Edward said sympathetically, "most likely, you won't be able to be around humans for about a year, and Nessie for a month but it could be more or less."

Charlie frowned. He knew what that meant; he couldn't see the reason for changing for a month at best but still I could see he was thinking about proceeding.

"Other than that," Carlisle said as he rushed to help Charlie up, "there isn't much more that I have to add." The room was silent; no one else did either. "Did you have any questions?"

Charlie was lost in thought for a few minutes. A part of me wanted him to go through with it so that he'd never have to leave Renesmee. But the problem with that was if the Volturi had and problems with how we handled the truth and Charlie, then there would be no changing their minds this time. Caius and Aro would not be swayed; their egos were too badly bruised from the last encounter we had with them. Jane and Alec would welcome a fight, even if it was hand to hand. That had to chap their hides; me being able to stop their gifts. But then I thought if dad would have a gift. Would he be like me, a shield, or would his gift be more offensive?

Charlie was still thinking about it, even whistling to himself. That was always his nervous tick when he was lost in thought. About five minutes later he asked, "Could I have a few days to think about it?"

"Of course," Carlisle answered, still holding onto Charlie's shoulder. "But you can't tell anyone about any of this," he warned.

"Even Sue and Billy?"

Edward thought about it more than Carlisle. Both of them already knew about the Cullens and Billy was a tribal elder. "I don't think that would hurt, Carlisle," Edward suggested, at which Carlisle nodded.

"Ok Bells?" Charlie asked me, at which I nodded. I really hoped that he would talk to me in private before making his final decision but, in the end I knew that it was his decision to make. And the more I thought about it, the more I wanted him to go through with it, but I didn't know if I could be the one to bite him.


	5. New Perspectives

Chapter 5  
New Perspectives

(Charlie POV)

During the last 36 hours I had been told so much stuff that my head felt like it was about to explode. I've had Carlisle tell me that I have terminal cancer and only have three months left. I frowned because that wasn't nearly enough time to spend with all of those I love. Then he tells me that the only thing that can save me is if they turn me into a vampire like all of them are. I've been thinking about it a lot since Bella hadn't changed all that much in the last few years, but I still don't know if I can do it or not. I mean, it would end any chance of me and Renee ever getting back together and she's really the only one that I've ever truly loved.

After leaving Carlisle's family, I went to talk to Sue. She was torn; Sue wanted to see me happy, and yet there was still that pesky matter of the treaty. But it sounded like she wanted me to be happy because she had in the past. I knew that her and Harry had something really deep. I really care about her but it'll never come close to the relationship that they had and I was okay with that. We even tried to force it by having sex about a year ago but both of us knew that it wasn't meant to be anything more than a good friendship. But now, Sue was in the hospital. She had a stroke the night I found out that I was dying while she slept, and I can't help but think that it was all my fault. Our talk must have upset her too much.

I was surprised that she thought that I should consider being changed; she actually gave me that advice yesterday from the hospital. Sue knew how much I loved Bella and Nessie and that I couldn't bear to make them sad, so I was still just thinking about the possibly of going through it. But still I hoped that maybe something would develop with Sue even though I was almost certain that ship had sailed.

I was on my way to visit her again in the hospital. The thirty minute drive to the reservation gave me a chance to think about it some more. Carlisle had been coming to treat her, driving all the way to a hospital that he didn't work at because Jacob asked him to. If that didn't show how much things had changed between the Quileutes and the Cullens, I don't know what would.

Before I left the night that Carlisle told me I had cancer, Jacob told me about the history between the tribe and the 'cold ones'. He also explained that their truce had gotten even stronger with him imprinting on Nessie, with it now almost as strong as an alliance. I was still pissed about that happening; Nessie looked like she was just shy of being a teenager, and here's Jacob talking about falling in love with my granddaughter. At least I laughed when Jacob joked that I took it better than Edward or Bella did. That had strengthened the bond between them and made it almost unbreakable. I found out at the hospital from Jacob that that was why he and Sam were willing to let the Cullens change me; they saw Bella after her… whatever you call it, and realized that she was still the same person she was before. I was still surprised that Jacob wanted me do what would make me happy, not what would make anyone else happy.

I arrived at the hospital shortly after 18:00. It didn't surprise me that half of the tribe was there since Sue was an elder, even though there weren't many who actually visited her in her room. Bella and the Cullens, except for Carlisle, stayed away; no reason to tempt fate in a hospital full of humans that one of my vampire in-laws wouldn't be able to control themselves, but they all sent flowers. I saw Sue every time I came and this time, when entering her room I saw Seth and Leah sitting at the foot of her bed in tears.

I had seen her before I left for what was going to be my last day of work. I had applied for, and was unusually rapidly granted, early retirement due to my medical condition. I assumed that the Cullens pulled some strings and was grateful to them. She looked better that morning, but still was nowhere near back to normal.

Carlisle must had known that I was there, as he pulled me out to give me his diagnosis. "We're losing her," the doctor whispered to me to try and not let anyone other than close friends and kin know the situation was so bad.

"How?" I asked, tears now betraying the strength I was trying to show. "I mean, she looked better earlier."

Carlisle shook his head and frowned. "She had another stroke this morning after you left; very massive. It's damaged her brain stem; the area of her brain that controls vital functions, like her heart rate and breathing. That's why they put her on a ventilator, but it's only a matter of time now. I'm trying to give her friends and family time to say goodbye, but there isn't much more I can do for her. She was a wolf, and I don't know if I tried to change her what would happen."

I knew what he was saying; Jacob had filled me in. If Carlisle bit me, it would change me. But if he bit a wolf, then it could kill them. He wasn't sure if, since the Quileutes were shape-shifters and not technically werewolves what would happen, but he didn't want to take the chance and neither did anyone else. I knew why Carlisle was here now; he was preparing to test her brain function and if she failed, it was over. He wanted me to say my last goodbye.

When I walked back in, Seth and Leah were still crying. They had begged Carlisle to do anything he could to save her, but there was nothing he could short of biting her. I hugged them both, kissing them lightly on their foreheads, and trying to tell them that she'd be okay. I couldn't guarantee that, but it was the best thing that I could say. "Worse-case scenario, she'll be back with Harry soon," I whispered in their ears.

They were both sobbing. Billy had entered the room with Jacob. Billy and I went to the chapel to pray while Jacob stayed with Seth and Leah as Carlisle prepared to test her brain function, in addition to ask about any other of her final wishes.

"She lasted a lot longer than I thought she would," Billy said as we entered the chapel. I looked at him confused, and he explained why. "When a wolf's imprint dies first, the wolf normally doesn't live much longer than a few weeks after that. The imprint is that strong; the wolf, even if long since its last phase, hurts too much to go on. Between you and her kids, you gave her a reason to live."

I was fighting back my own tears. "I just can't help thinking that this is all my fault. Billy, do you think Sue would rather see me as a … well you know or dead?"

Billy shook his head vehemently. "Never think that. She always wanted for you to be happy, and if you having to change to be with your family will make you happy, then do it."

"She was the only reason I didn't go through with it right away, and now with her holding on by a thread, I don't know what to do any more."

Billy reached up and was patting my right shoulder with his left hand. Now I lost it; I couldn't hold in my tears any more as I felt Sue's spirit leave.

We were only out of the room for maybe fifteen minutes, but when we got back Jacob, Seth, and Leah were all crying. All the instrumentation was off, although she was being kept artificially alive. Carlisle came in to talk to me and Billy.

Carlisle looked at me sympathetically and shook his head. "She's brain dead," the doctor said looking visibly upset too. "When I removed the ventilator, she couldn't breathe on her own. Seth and Leah consented to having her organs donated; that's the reason we're keeping her heart still beating. There's an operating room being prepped to harvest her organs. If nothing else, Sue will give some people a second chance at life."

Now I completely lost it and rushed to Seth and Leah. Leah looked absolutely pissed at me. She was about to shout at me when Jacob shook his head at her. "It's not his fault," Jacob said trying to calm Leah.

"Like hell it isn't. Why would you even let them try to-"

Seth cut off his older sister. "Not now!" He snapped. I was grateful for Seth stopping Leah's tirade, even though I did feel like it might be my fault.

Leah leapt out the second story window and phased by the time she landed. A loud, pained howl escaped from her, and it seemed that every wolf in a ten mile radius of her answered her. She ran deep into the woods and I assumed she was doing this to mourn in her own way. How's a werewolf mourn anyway?

"Seth, I'm so sorry," I said to him as I hugged him. He looked like he was even more hurt than Leah was. He returned my embrace as I rubbed his back trying to comfort him, but the boy was almost inconsolable. I couldn't blame him; when I lost my parents I cried like a baby for days. I even woke up in the middle of the night screaming, much like Bella had when Edward left her.

Carlisle had come back in and joined Seth and myself. Jacob left after Leah, trying to make sure that she didn't do anything foolish, I assumed. I really didn't want her to be alone right now either. "Just a lousy week all around," Carlisle said in sympathy to both of us, "but Seth, her gifts will give many people a second chance at a good life. And a part of her will live on for a very long time."

Seth was fighting a small smile through his tears. He knew that his mom always wanted more than anything else to help others. That's why when Carlisle had asked them about organ donation, Leah balked at first but Seth was adamant about doing it.

Carlisle left the room after briefly speaking to Seth and wanted to talk to Billy. He had spread the word to his family that Sue was gone, and Alice insisted on hosting a party to celebrate her life. Carlisle didn't know what Seth and Leah would think about that, so he wanted to test the idea with Billy.

I walked out of the room with Seth just as Carlisle was telling Billy about the plan. At first, Seth was outraged that Carlisle wouldn't ask him, but Carlisle explained why he went to Billy first. "I wanted to learn more about Quileute burial rituals and make sure it would be proper. With the," Carlisle struggled to find the best way to describe the closeness between them in the past few years, "almost kinship we've developed in the last while, my family wants to celebrate Sue's life more than mourn her death."

"Think of it as a sendoff," I said to Seth who looked confused. "It's not uncommon when someone dies to drink to their memory soon after, and tell stories about them; remembering the great times that we shared. You ever hear of an Irish wake?"

Seth eventually nodded in agreement to the plan. That just left Leah, wherever she had disappeared to. Sue's passing made me think even more about my mortality. We were all a little surprised about her sudden death, and it almost forced my hand to a decision. Now that I knew there was no chance of us having a long and happy life, it brought me back to the immediacy that this decision needed to be made in.

Alice had outdone herself with the sendoff. Even a few of the Alaskan vampires came in for the event; I was told their names were Eleazar, Carmen, and Tayna. (Garett still wasn't fully able to control his instincts around humans, so he and Kate would stay behind.) I wondered how'd they even get there that fast. There was only one possibility; Alice had told them to come earlier in the day. In addition, many of the Quileutes came; the first time that many of them had entered the Cullen home. Jacob and Sam had helped bury the animosity between the Cullens and the tribe.

There were many old pictures of Harry and Sue, with one of their weeding pictures enlarged with a caption underneath it that read 'together at last'. Under that was 'September 15th, 2010 to eternity'; that was the date of Sue's death.

I had talked to Billy about some of that. He told me that the Quileutes believed in an afterlife, much like the Christian heaven; the bravest of their warriors, those with the ability to turn into wolves, were guaranteed entry. He had told me that this was the case with both Harry and Sue, although Sue lost the ability when she became pregnant with Leah. Harry was able to phase until the birth of Seth, since the only vampires in the region were the Cullens and they were harmless to the tribe, even if some of them were skeptical of them. Billy added that as part of the treaty, the Cullens had agreed to return to the area on occasion to spark phasing in younger members of the tribe. The Cullens agreed to this, since there always was a chance, mainly due to the weather, of non-vegetarians coming to the area.

Billy was leaving me as one of the vampires I wasn't completely familiar with caught my eye. I had seen her staring at me for a while as I was talking with Billy. Her eyes were brilliant honey gold, her hair was bright strawberry blonde, and her face looked like an angel. She was so obviously a vampire that it didn't take me long to figure that one out. I don't know what it was, but something was drawing me to her. Carlisle had explained how the eyes worked; a vampire with golden eyes didn't need to be feared, while one with red eyes should be. But I knew one other thing; she was the one who I had longed for my entire life. I saw her take a sniff but quickly ran to the other side of the house.

"Who's that?" I whispered to Jasper, who walked over with Edward.

He looked up and answered, "That's one of our friends from Alaska, Tanya."

"Tayna," I whispered to him, "what a perfect name for an angel." I was smiling widely at her, and was certain that my smile looked kind of stalker-ish to her. Was that even a word? Eh, who cares?

I saw Edward rush to me, which seemed to make Tanya looked worried. Apparently she didn't know that I knew about them already. "She's been staring at you since see smelled you," Edward whispered to me. "Apparently you smell better to her than Bella did to me, but I don't notice it."

I sniffed myself trying to ascertain what he was talking about. I didn't smell; sure I was wearing cologne and it was rare for me to do that, but it wasn't B.O.

Edward laughed at me again. "Not like that," he chuckled as he shook his head. "That's one way we can tell when we meet someone special. If their human, their blood sings to us. Tanya's like us and hasn't tasted human blood in more than a century, but you're straining all her will power now."

I hoped that was the case, that she felt kind of smitten about her. This was the first time that I had been able to forget about Renee. I was certain that Tanya was the one who I was destined to fall in love with, and could only hope that was the case for her. I had planned to tell Carlisle the night after Sue's funeral about my decision; I still wasn't sure if it was the right one, but I was willing to go through with it.

I looked up from talking to Edward after noticing a nervous look on his face. Esme had told me about his gift, and I assumed that he had simply heard my wavering. I saw whom he was staring at; it was Alice. I knew about her skill also, and simply assumed that she had seen a vision of me being like them in the very near future. But when Edward's look returned to me, I knew there was something wrong with that thought.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

Edward smiled; not his usual bright smile, but rather this one was incredibly guarded. He shook his head when he answered me. "Nothing."

I knew he was lying, but I wouldn't press him much. I looked at my watch, and it was already approaching midnight. Sue's funeral was the next morning, so returning home seemed to be the prudent thing to do. All of the Cullens would be attending then next day; the first time that many of them had ever set foot on Quileute territory. I smiled as I thought about everything that had happened in the last few years. The hatchet had been buried. All of my friends and family were getting along and me and Bella couldn't be any happier, despite the loss of Sue.

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 **A/N:** What did Alice see, and why? Next time. Thanks you reading and reviewing. Next chapter should be up within the next week of so. Also innothiced an issue with the date above. If the story is set just after Renesmee's fourth birthday, then I should have the date of Sue's death match.


	6. Wedge

**AN:** Hello again everybody. I want to thank all of you for the kind words about the story. I am not offended if anyone wants to be critical, just please no flaming. That's the only way I can get better at this. Anywho, this chapter is broken into two parts, mainly because the second part would have been too short to have on its own. Hope you enjoy, and to everyone in the US, I hope you all have a good Memorial Day weekend. I doubt any new updates before beginning of June.

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Chapter 6  
Wedge

(Edward POV)

I had seen through Alice's mind the vision she saw, and it scared the absolute dickens out of me. First time that had happened in more than a few decades. I couldn't speak of it at the moment, since I was still talking to Charlie and it involved things, that even though he knew the secret of our kind, he could never be allowed to know.

"If you'll excuse me Charlie, why don't you try to speak to Tanya?" I suggested hoping that he would give me an opportunity to talk to Carlisle, from whom Alice was also seeking council. "I think she feels similar to you."

Charlie grinned; a stupid looking, puppy-dog looking grin. He even giggled similar to the way that Bella had in the past; the difference being that Bella was a teenage girl at the time, while Charlie was a middle-aged man. "Okay," Charlie stuttered out. I could hear just how infatuated he was with Tanya despite not having yet talked to her. He finally stumbled over towards Tanya who looked nervous about if she could control her instincts, since his blood was 'singing' to her.

"You'll be fine," I whispered towards Tanya, hoping that she would hear me, while Charlie wouldn't. She nodded at me in confirmation of her receipt of my message. I knew her past; that before she adopted the vegetarian lifestyle that she had killed many of her lovers before. But now I saw how different her feelings were towards Charlie than any of those she had in the past. She would be able to love him without hurting him; of that I was certain.

Alice and I had asked Carlisle to meet us in the backyard, where we hoped we could have some privacy. Carlisle had insisted to involve Eleazar, since his advice could prove helpful.

"Carlisle," Alice belted out in her high pitched, bell-like voice, "It's very strange."

Carlisle looked nervous. It took a lot to have Alice say something was strange. "What is it Alice?" Carlisle asked, growing more concerned with each second.

"It's the Volturi. They're sending Marcus away."

Both Carlisle and Eleazar were as confused as Alice and I were. I knew why they were; the ancients never separated for any reason. The three of them had never been seen apart since the Volturi seized power from the Romanians more than a millennium ago.

"Will he be alone?" Eleazar asked wondering why they would consider such a risky move.

"No," Alice answered, "Dimitri will be with him. They're searching for someone, but I don't know who he is. Somewhere in South America; I think maybe Brazil. I hear people speaking Portuguese."

"Could it be Zafrina or her sisters?" Carlisle asked concerned for the safety of their friends. I could hear his thoughts. This is what he feared the most; that the Volturi would divide and conquer us separately.

Alice shook her head. "It's someone I don't know; just under six foot, black unkept hair, skinny and kind of jittery. They won't find him, but they will be hunting while they're there."

I heard Carlisle and Eleazar search their memories trying to think of someone who fit that profile, but they were all drawing a blank. Just then I saw Alice have another vision, this one more powerful and it scared her more.

"What is it child?" Eleazar asked softly, trying to comfort Alice.

"Can we tell you later?" I asked for my sister, realizing that this was something the whole family needed to hear, and now it included Charlie as well.

Eleazar and Carlisle both nodded in agreement, and returned inside. They noticed that in the twenty minutes they were outside talking that the party crowd had begun to thin out; now only a few of the Quileutes remaining, and all of those either wolves or elders.

I heard Carlisle speculate in his mind that everyone who remained could know about whatever Alice had seen. I nodded in reply and everyone gathered around where Charlie and Tanya were still talking, looking completely taken with each other.

Bella hugged Charlie gently, since Alice had told her that they needed to tell her father everything now. Alice's latest vision had involved him now even though it was still fuzzy, like a final decision had yet to be made. Bella wanted to make Charlie as comfortable as possible, since they had a lot to tell him.

Charlie took a seat on the couch, with Renesmee snuggling into his left side, and Bella on his right. I stood behind Bella, while the Quileutes all sat on the floor, except for Billy who was in his wheelchair. The rest of the vampires stood holding onto their mates, while Tanya stood behind Charlie.

Bella began telling the complete story of why she ran to Italy with Alice; how she met the Volturi and their ultimatum that either she become a vampire or she would have to be killed. I saw Charlie blanch when he was told this, as he realized that this could have very well been his fate if the Volturi ever found out that he knew the secret, but I could hear in his thoughts in the past tense. I understood why after a quarter of a second; he had made his decision to try to be changed.

Bella continued telling he story of just after Renesmee's first Christmas, and how the Volturi came looking for her thinking that she was one of the forbidden; an immortal child. She added the reasons why the creation of child vampires had been outlawed, and also that the Volturi required vampires to be kept in secrecy.

I felt Charlie burn with rage when he was told the whole story about the confrontation with the Volturi about Renesmee. He was irate, no more than that, when he was told that they tried to execute them for doing nothing wrong. He secretly swore that he would try to make them pay for what they wanted to do to his family, but I shook my head at him.

"That won't help Charlie," I said sternly, as if he was the child and I the parent, which wasn't all that inaccurate with the supernatural stuff. "Most of the Volturi guard are incredibly gifted and all of them are very skilled fighters. Alec deprives one of all senses, while Jane can make one think that they are in agony. Although neither of their gifts affect anyone inside Bella's bubble, but if they were to get inside they could affect anyone except Bella."

"Bella's … bubble?" Bella asked with a smiling chuckle.

"Not a bad way to describe what it looked like when Alec's mist tried to find a weak point and found none," Esme mused standing in Carlisle's arms.

Bella smiled at the new name for her gift. "You see, Charlie," Carlisle said as he wiggled his way out of Esme's arms and placed his left hand on Charlie's left shoulder, "many of us have extra talents."

"Yeah yeah, I know. Bella's a shield, Edward can read minds, blah-blah-blah," Charlie said sounding annoyed. "I remember that part."

I frowned as I prepared to tell him more about the gifts. "Some have really powerful gifts. Like Jane can stop someone in their tracks and literally bring them to their knees in pain, but she can only affect one person at a time. Alec can take away all senses from multiple people. Although neither of them can physically hurt anyone, it is just an illusion."

"Would I get a gift?" Charlie asked sounding even more eager to go through it than I thought he would.

"There's just no way to tell," Eleazar said softly. "My gift is that I can see the gifts of those around me, but it is difficult in humans. I never met such a gifted human as Bella was and even with her it was very faint, but there was something there with her back then. But at this time, I cannot feel anything definitive in you."

Charlie frowned. He had hoped that he would be special, but I knew that he was. No matter what he got out of the change, if he did go through with it, he would always be Bella's father and Nessie's grandfather. In addition to having a loving and supportive family who would teach him what he needed to know.

"So Charlie," Alice spoke softly again, "the real reason we want you to know this is that if you go through with this, then you'll completely be a member of our family. But I see something that is kinda scary. The Volturi want to punish us for defying them. When we proved our innocence about Nessie, it bruised their egos; especially Aro's and Caius's. I don't think they've ever had anyone stand up to them before. The thought they could just slaughter us, but the wolves forced them to pause."

"How couldn't they?" Emmett mused with a grin. "They could knock a buzzard off a gut wagon." The last remark accented with a slight laugh as he playfully punched Seth in the right shoulder gently.

"Let's not start comparing stinks, bloodsucker." Seth quipped under his breath, even though Jacob was shaking his head telling him to let it go.

Anyway," Alice continued sounding annoyed, "now they're looking for a way to divide and get us separately. The first thing they need to do is drive a wedge between us and some of our allied covens. Any reason will due. They've already tried the whole werewolf thing, but it didn't work. All of those who witnessed for us realized that as long as they agree while around the Pacific Northwest to not feed on humans, then there will not be a problem."

Jacob nodded in confirmation of this point. This had been a concession in the treaty that Sam and he had both agreed to in the aftermath of the run in with the Volturi a few years ago.

Alice had another vision. She saw Charlie on the ground writhing in agony, with several sets of bite marks on his body. Wait; it wasn't the ground. He was on the medical bed that Carlisle had for Bella. I counted the bites in my head, taking note of their locations. One on his right ankle, one on the right side of his neck, another on his left bicep, and a final smaller set on his left thigh. Four sets of teeth marks, with all of them different sizes. The reddest one was on his thigh, which meant that was where the most venom was injected. But why, I wondered, were there four different sizes of teeth. And why was he bitten on the ankle? There was no reason that location, unless someone wanted to cause him the most agony they could.

Then I focused on the wound on his ankle. It wasn't a bite; too clean as it looked more like a knife wound and there were no teeth mark. But it was still an angry red, which meant that it got infected or something like that. It made almost no sense why Alice could see that wound being so fresh, just slightly older than the bite marks by a few hours at most.

I remembered Carlisle's story; the vampire who bit him wanted him to be in as much agony as possible. If we were to change Charlie, we'd try to make it as painless as possible. That meant we'd probably do it like Bella; injecting the venom directly into his heart, coupled with a few random bites in some spots throughout his body. So that meant that he would be bitten by someone else first, but who.

I saw a look on Bella's face that told me that she wanted to talk to her father alone, so I took Renesmee to the cottage to allow them some time alone.

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(Bella POV)

"Thanks, Edward," I whispered to him as he was about to leave with Nessie. Damn! I'm doing it now too. Damn Jacob and that stupid nickname, although he was right; it was easier than saying Renesmee. Edward nodded as he left for our magical cottage.

I took Charlie by the hand and led him up to Edward's old room. The couch was still there, along with a full sized bed for Renesmee to use if she wanted to sleep while we were at Carlisle's house. We sat on the black leather couch and stared into each other's eyes. Edward told me that the only thing that Charlie missed about my human self was my old eyes, his eyes; although to him, the new ones were even more beautiful when they were honey gold. But it had been almost a week since I last hunted, so my eyes had grown darker, almost a mid amber now.

"I still can't believe how good you've handled all of this," I said hugging my father around the bottom of his ribs. At least, I thought it was light until he groaned.

"Bells, can't… breathe," He groaned out in minor discomfort.

I gasped, "Sorry," as I quickly released him but he leaned back in to me and kissed my forehead, just like he used to when I was upset. I was so happy that even with all the ways that I had changed in the last four years, I was still his little girl. He loved me just like he always did, and I understood why after the birth of Renesmee.

"You'll always be my little Isabella," Charlie said softly as it was his turn to hug me.

As he released me, I scowled at him but it only made him grin wider. He knew how much I hated it when he called me by my real name, and he still did it on occasion just to aggravate me. I loved him because he always knew how to make me feel better about anything. Then I remembered what happened when Edward first brought me here. "There's gonna be something you see that'll be too much and it'll send you screaming."

He laughed. "No there won't Is-a-bell-a." He deliberately stretched out my name, emphasizing every syllable.

I smiled, and it grew wider and wider as we both stood up. "You really shouldn't have said that," I laughed out, a high pitched almost bell-like singing laugh. "You're like, waiving a red flag at a bull," I joked more back in my normal, humany voice, which drew no reaction again from him. After a few seconds, my smile became a show of teeth, and something deep in my chest rumbled; a slight growl. His expression didn't change. Now I was half furious and half grateful for his reaction. I decided to press my luck with him. Crouching slightly towards him, I leapt at him. I'm sure that he didn't see me pounce; it was much too fast his his human eyes. I knocked him back onto the couch, careful to not hurt him. I landed on top of him, my hips straddling his stomach, then mockingly went for his neck. I was in total control of myself; that's why I even considered doing this. I had to prove it to myself, that my dad wouldn't be scared of me or my new family. I touched his neck with my lips, and lovingly kissed him with a soft cat-like purr escaping from my lips. That's when the door flew open.

"Bella what are you doing!" I heard someone demand from the door. It was a man's voice, but I didn't recognize it at first until I rolled off of my dad. I saw the look in Charlie's eyes; one of the most sincere love that I had ever seen him give to me. We sat on the couch again, as he pulled me back to him and kissed my forehead again.

I looked at the doorway to see who had rushed in. It was Carlisle. He must have heard my growl and thought that I was about to attack my dad, but when he saw me roll off of him I could only assume that he understood what I was doing; that it was playful. Carlisle apologized and left the room almost silently.

"So what was that about Bells?" Charlie asked my still with his arm around my shoulders.

I shook my head. "Just had to know that you really were not afraid of me."

"I'd never be. You'll always be my baby girl."

I smiled again. He proved exactly what I wanted to know; he loved me as much as ever. "Have you thought any more about it?" I asked, assuming that he knew what I wanted to know about.

He smiled again as well. It was obvious that he had, and was committed to trying it. Now all I could wonder was who he would ask to bite him, or would we try like they did with me.

"I want it to be you, Bells," he said almost as if he knew what I was thinking. I looked confused at him, so he added, "I want you to change me."

"I don't know if I can," I cried out.

"I'll understand if you can't, but why don't you talk to Carlisle about it. It just seems like something that family should do."

I smiled again. My dad was giving me the greatest honor he could, trusting his very life to me. Even if I couldn't do it, and I thought it was at best 50/50, the fact that he asked me first flattered me. But even if I couldn't, I looked forward to being with my dad forever. But still I wondered exactly what had Alice seen. How would the Volturi try to get revenge on us? Where and how would they strike, and could we do anything to protect whoever their target would be?


	7. Attacked

**AN:** I've decided to change the title. In keeping with the theme of the books' titles, the new title is _High Noon_. The reason for this will be elaborated on in later chapters.

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Chapter 7  
Attacked

(Charlie POV)

I had made my decision three days ago. I wanted Bella to be the one to do it, if she thought she could. My back up plan would be Edward. The past two days had been filled with settling all of my affairs. One of the first things that was suggested to me, was to see an attorney in Seattle that the Cullens frequently used for documents. Jason Jenks seemed kind of shady when I first met him. It was obvious that in my former line of work, he would have definitely been someone I would have been interested in, but for a much different reason. He was a forger and counterfeiter. But he was the person whom the Cullens trusted to obtain all the documentation for their moves, and also he knew just enough about them to be a danger. This was necessary in situations like this; both sides needed dirt on the other if something went bad.

The services I required were some of the first legitimate services that Mr. Jenks had provided for the Cullens in two decades. Carlisle had told me what to expect in the first year or so of my new life; extreme thirst and the desire to do anything to quench it, including murder. I couldn't risk being around humans for at least a few months. Because of that, I granted Bella and Edward jointly full power of attorney over all of my affairs. After my transformation, we would decide what exactly to do, what story to tell my friends but more than likely they would list my home on the market and sell it. The exact lie as to where I would be at this time was still to be determined, but my family had assured me that this was the safest way to proceed. Other than my family and closest friends, no one knew how sick I really was, so I wouldn't have to lie to them saying that I had died. My favorite idea was saying I was having a midlife crisis and retired to move back to the 'old country'. Exactly which country my parents came from was still a mystery. They immigrated to the States in the early 1900's and claimed to be Austrian, but I knew of some distant cousins in Germany.

Part of me wanted to proceed with the change as quickly as possible, but Carlisle insisted that if I wanted Bella to be the one to bite me, then she had to be well fed. She was still a fairly new vampire, so there was a risk that she wouldn't be able to stop when she bit me; if she fed frequently leading up to when she would bite me, then that would lessen the chance. Edward and Carlisle would both be in the room with us when she did, and they hoped that the two of them combined would be able to stop her if she began to drink me. Man that still sounds wrong to say.

There was another reason that I wanted to go to Seattle; I wanted to see one last Mariners game before my change. I didn't care so much who they were playing, it was just a chance to share one of my passions with my family… and Jacob. Okay, that might be a little harsh, but there will always be a part of me that resents him falling in love with Nessie so young. Six of us were given a suite by Carlisle; Billy and Jacob joined Edward, Bella, Nessie, and myself. I had went down to the main concourse level to just wander around. The game didn't really matter to me; the M's were having an off year. I just wanted one last time in the ballpark.

I had been walking around for about five minutes, when I saw an absolutely stunning young woman. Her skin was brilliantly white, and she worn casual jeans and a very low cut tee shirt extremely tight fitting to her perfect frame. Her hair was long, recently permed and somewhere between red and brown. It fell in waves down to her waist. The most unusual thing about her were her eyes; never before had I seen anyone with violet eyes, but like everything else on her they were stunning. Her beauty could dwarf anyone, even Rosalie, but there was definitely something she was hiding.

"Hey handsome," the woman said in my direction.

I began looking around to see who she was talking to; it clearly couldn't be me. She was young enough to be a daughter or niece. But she pointed right at me. For the first time I noticed her hands were covered in black elbow length gloves. I gulped.

"You're silly, but really cute," she mused with a giggle. "What do you say we go back to my place?"

I wasn't sure, but I could have sworn she moaned with hunger and said 'delicious' under her breath. Something felt off here, but I couldn't place it. I decided to make small talk with her for a few minutes, and then would decline her invitation. But I secretly hoped that one of my friends might come down to give me an alibi.

"It's only the fourth inning," I said casually trying to dismiss her after a few minutes of talking about god only knows what. I saw a rage burn in her with this. She knew what I was doing, and this woman looked as if she didn't get declined very often. But I had found someone I wanted to be with in Tanya. And even thought this woman was much prettier than Tanya on a strictly physical sense, Tanya was so much more beautiful than she was.

As soon as I dismissed her invitation, she turned on her heel and stomped off. By now, I had been gone for about half an hour. I was sure that they'd start worrying if I was gone much longer. I decided to grab a beer and some nachos as a cover story for why it had taken so long. I returned to the suite by the end of the sixth.

"God Charlie, you stink," Jacob laughed as I returned. "I didn't think the smell of bloodsucker was contagious, but I guess I was wrong."

"Jacob Black!" Billy snapped at his son.

Jacob looked down at his feet in shame. "Sorry," he muttered just above a whisper in shame.

"We still have a treaty in place, and that requires us to be discreet."

"I said I was sorry," Jacob apologized again.

Edward was looking at me, and I guess he saw something in my thoughts that he found very offensive since he ran out of the suite. He was gone for about ten minutes before he returned. None of us left the suite for the rest of the game.

During the eighth inning, Nessie sat on my knee and whispered to me, "It's more fun when we play ball," adding a wink at the end.

I had seen them play yesterday. Their version of baseball couldn't compare to MLB, but it made me happy to see them having so much fun. "It won't be long before I can play too," I whispered to her, which made her smile widely.

After the game, as we walked back to the cars, I asked Jacob if he wanted to join us fishing tomorrow.

"Sounds like fun," Jacob answered. "What time?"

"About 7," Billy answered. "Charlie will be by about 7."

"Well then, I'm in."

The next day, being Saturday there was really little I could do when it came to getting stuff taken care of, so I decided to enjoy one last time fishing with Billy. Jacob came along with us, since Alice wanted to treat Renesmee to a spa day; or at least pamper Nessie with what Alice, Esme, and Rosalie could do. Billy would be the only one in the boat anchored next to us, as Jacob and I would be fly fishing one of the streams that flowed into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Since Harry died, I hadn't been fly fishing and wanted to one last time. Billy had explained to me on the way to our spot that until I wasn't a danger to humans, they could not allow me onto Quileute land but once my control was certain then I would be welcomed back just like the rest of the Cullens were after the run in with the Volturi.

We found a spot just at the mouth of a river, I don't really know which one, where the water depth changed relatively quickly. Were we were, it was about three feet deep, and it was relatively warm for the Olympic Peninsula in late September, so we were comfortable in waders. We'd been fishing for about an hour when I finally felt a bite. This sucker had to be massive; 40 or 50 pounds, maybe even more. I was worried that my line wouldn't hold, but no sooner had I felt the line go taught, did it fall slack. Sucker must not have taken the hook. "Ah, crap!" I sighed dejected. "That might had been the one to make my angling career complete."

Billy and Jacob both chuckled. "Another fish story paleface?" Billy laughed at me. I could only laugh at him in reply. Billy set his pole down and stretched his hand as far apart as he could. "I once landed a fish this big," he exaggerated.

We were all laughing now. He had used this line on me many times before, and I could only assume that Jacob had heard it too. "Let me guess," I sighed in response like always, "he got away."

Billy smiled. "Damn right. Took my rod too."

Jacob rolled his eyes, turned to me and whispered, "He only told mom that so she'd let him buy a new one." We were all laughing again.

Another minute passed and Jacob began to sniff the air. "Something's wrong," he observed noticing that the smell was completely off. One of his gifts was heightened smell in the aftermath of being a wolf. We waited for him to elaborate. "There's no fish around here; it's like they know something's wrong."

That's when I felt something cut through my waders. "Goddamn it!" I screamed as I first felt the pain. Sure, my waders were old and leaked a little bit, but I never felt anything cut me through them before. And even weirder, I didn't see a rock or anything that could cut them. I didn't know if there was a knife hidden in water that we couldn't see of what, but something got me.

The first thing I noticed was the pain; a single sharp, almost blade like feeling to whatever cut me. But it began to get warmer as time passed. Before a minute passed, I couldn't feel the coolness of the water in my right foot; that was my first clue that something was seriously wrong. But I wasn't paralyzed since I could still feel my toes, it was just that my temperature senses were ways off in one foot.

After I yelled, Jacob began to help me to shore. I could walk fine still, but it stung like hell. By the time I got my waders off, Jacob began to inspect the wound. It was clean, looking like a knife wound but there was definitely something wrong with it. It was an angry shad of red. I tried to explain it away; the low concentration of salt in the strait being responsible, but Jacob wasn't telling me something. "We've gotta get you to Carlisle," he insisted vehemently. "He'll know what to do about this."

"A knife wound?" I questioned as I examined it myself. It was about six inches long, and not very deep; in fact it looked like it had already stopped bleeding. "Why don't I just go to the clinic on the reservation, it's only about five minutes from here. And besides, it's not bleeding anymore."

"You don't get it. Charlie, I smell bloodsucker in your wound. Something bit you or something."

His words hit me like a ton of bricks. Yes, I wanted to be a vampire so I'd never have to leave my family, and could possibly spend eternity with Tanya if she wanted me, but I didn't want it like this. When whoever it would have been to bite me did, I wanted to be surrounded by my family. By now, my leg began to get uncomfortable; heat began building in it.

I walked back to where we had parked our cars. It was getting difficult, but with a little support from Jacob, it was doable. Jacob drove at speeds that would have made me want to arrest him when I was a cop, but he was doing it for a reason. My leg was growing hotter and hotter by the second; I mean it felt like it was in a blast furnace now, and worse it felt as the heat was beginning to spread up my leg. We made it to Carlisle's clinic within about fifteen minutes, but when we entered I almost collapsed. I couldn't walk any more on it. Luckily, Jacob was able to catch me before I fell.

Esme looked concerned behind the desk, but couldn't help carry me because there were a few people in the waiting room. I heard her whispering on the phone, wondering who she was calling. Bella maybe? Edward? Jacob carried me into one of the open exam rooms as quickly as we entered the lobby. Carlisle came to see me less than a minute later.

"What's wrong?" Carlisle asked as he looked at my leg. He examined the wound carefully noticing the blade-like cut just above the top of my foot.

"Something got him when we were fishing," Jacob answered, his whole shivering in rage. It looked like he wanted to run after whatever he thought it was.

"What got him? Carlisle asked again sounding upset that he couldn't see why the cut was so painful to me.

Normally, I had a high tolerance for pain and never cried, but this was almost bringing me to tears. I didn't think it was possible, but the heat had begun to spread, further up my leg, with minor heat now up to my knee. "Fire," I whispered out. That was all the volume I could get from my voice. "Fire in my right leg." I could feel my face grimacing from the discomfort I was in.

"Bloodsucker," Jacob whispered to Esme who was still behind the desk in the lobby. "One I don't know."

How'd I hear that? Bella used to joke with me that I had selective deafness, but I head a whisper down the hall through a closed door as clear as if Jacob was standing right next to me. I heard Jacob talking to Esme, hearing both sides of their conversation perfectly. What the heck happened to me?

Billy was still talking to Carlisle. The two of them looked at me in genuine horror. I could hear their muffled whispers perfectly clear, and I could decipher them with incredible clarity.

"How long's it been?" Carlisle asked, not letting his voice be heard by anyone other than Billy, and apparently me now.

I saw Billy look at his left wrist and assumed he was looking at a watch. "Maybe half hour; why?"

"Damnation!" Carlisle snapped still just barely above a whisper. "It's been too long. Even with the small amount of venom in him, there is no reversing it now. Either he lives as one of us, or I kill him to prevent it." I could clearly hear Carlisle's decisive steps as he approached me. He resumed at a level that he thought he needed to use so I could hear him, "It's a horrible choice, but I can offer you no other. I can stop the pain but it will kill you, or I can speed up the process and you'll begin your new life as one of us in a few days."

"Bella!" I struggled to shout, but it barely rose above a whisper.

Carlisle looked incredibly guilty. "Edward's coming to take you to the house. The whole family is waiting for you."

"I've gotta talk," I struggled to even get the words out of my mouth, "to Bella."

Edward ran in, at human speed, with a wheelchair. Even though it was difficult to move my head, I heard his entry perfectly clear. He lifted me with such gentleness that it felt more like floating than being carried before setting me down. He ran, no not for him but a human run, to get me outside the back door of the clinic ASAP.

I assumed that Edward already knew everything that had happened in the less than twenty seconds that he was in the clinic. We rode back the the Cullen home in complete silence, the four mile trip taking less than 10 minutes, even driving through town.

I was lost in my thoughts. Jacob, I assumed was in the back, since I felt someone else in the car who was breathing. I thought he was there to fill in the rest of the family when we got back, but I still was trying to think of how to tell them what really happened, even though I knew my course. I wanted Bella to help me. Carlisle had said that he could speed it up. What did that mean, and how could anyone speed this torture up? But all I knew is that I wished someone would help me.


	8. Mercy

Chapter 8

Mercy

(Charlie)

The ride to the house was absolutely silent. I was in too much pain to think about much of anything, but neither Edward nor whoever rode in the back seat said anything, even though I knew that something was on their minds. The fire had begun to spread through my leg and seemed to be going north slowly, now up to my shin; it was also growing hotter by the minute. The trip took less time to get to the Cullen's than I even thought possible and when we pulled into the garage almost everyone was waiting on me.

Bella helped me out of the car before Edward had even put it in park. She just about tore the seatbelt off and yanked me inside in a flash; everything was a complete blur, and I could tell that this was close to her full speed. She gently laid me onto the couch in the family room, and looked at my wound. In the time since I lift the clinic, my wound had completely scabbed over, but the venom had made sure that I would be scarred for life, however long that would be.

Renesmee came downstairs and sat next to my head, rubbing my hair and face. I could still feel her warm skin on my face, and tried to put on a brave face for her but I was losing control of my emotions. I felt something trying to manipulate them, but the pain was winning. "I love you, Nessie," I whispered to her as she bent her face down to my lips and I kissed her cheek.

I could hear Edward and Bella talking in the kitchen. Edward said just above a whisper, "Carlisle is coming as soon as Esme can cancel his appointments for the afternoon."

Man this was weird; hearing everyone's conversations without even really trying to. Even though Carlisle and Edward had told me about some of the, well 'enhancements' I would get from the change, but I still wasn't ready for them yet.

"He'll be here in about an hour," Alice answered for her brother.

"What do we do?" Bella cried out. I could hear the hurt in her voice, and it tore me up inside. I knew that she never wanted this for me, even though it would have been a tough decision. Sue and I never truly connected like I did with Renee and had Sue still been here that might have affected my choice, but in the aftermath of Sue's death going through the transformation definitely seemed like it was worth it. But Edward had told me that, like Bella did with me, he didn't want this lifestyle for Bella, so I thought that we were more similar than we thought.

"He's already committed to going through with the change, so I think we should speed it up a little," Edward answered matter of factly. "One of us should bite him to put more venom in his system to make the transformation go quicker. Carlisle said that with the amount he has in him now, his change will be long and painful; maybe taking more than a week. We can't afford to wait, since the first thing the venom does is seal the veins. Once that happens, if can't be sped up."

"I'll do it," Bella said. I know that she couldn't shed tears any more, but I recognized the sound of her sobbing, and it broke my heart.

Renesmee ran into the kitchen in a flash and pled with Bella, "But mama, I wanna help Papa Charlie!" I imagined the pouty face she might have shown Bella; it was one we were all powerless against.

"No sweetie," Alice said in her high soprano bell voice. I always loved the way it sounded when she was being herself, and this voice could hypnotize me. I wasn't sure but I thought I could hear the whoosh of her shaking her head. "You're not venomous, and that's what Papa Charlie needs now; venom."

Did I really want this, and was it okay this way? The answer was just so easy, and if my precious Nessie wanted to help, then I wanted her to. "Let…her…help," I struggled to whisper out. It felt like each word took a whole breath to say. Everyone came back into the family room to be with me.

When they entered the room, the sun was shining brightly through the windows. I had never seen my in-laws in the sun and it was enchanting. The sun brightly sparkled off of their stone skin, shimmering like they were bright jewels. Of course they were, because they were all more precious to me then any diamond could ever have been. I looked up to see Edward also smiling and nodding at me. I must have secretly asked in my mind if I would be like that too.

"Are you sure dad?" Bella asked me using a voice that she tried to keep hidden from me until very recently when I learned the whole truth. It wasn't quite as high pitched as Alice's, but still rang like gorgeous church bells in my ears. It seemed ironic that I always called her 'Bells', and now her voice sounded like them. "Do you really want this?" She pointed at her body moving her hand from head to toe.

The fire was spreading quickly, now up to my mid thigh on my right leg. It wouldn't be much longer before it consumed my whole body, and I didn't know how I would act then, so I had to make my wishes known now. I nodded and said, "Uh-huh." Speaking was getting difficult and it seemed like the pain was overtaking all of my cognitive skills. I just wanted it to end, but I knew that the only way to end the pain quickly would be the wrong choice for everyone. I had to endure this for as long as it would take. If nothing else, I would be surrounded by people I loved, and if I had to die, wasn't this the best way to go?

"Alice, where exactly did you see the bites?" Edward asked. I had closed my eyes since my vision had gotten hazy and it was starting to give me a headache. It seemed funny that for as quickly as my hearing improved, my sight was beginning to fail me even though I suspected this was only temporary.

"There was something on his right ankle, one on the left thigh, another on his right arm, and the last on the left side of his neck."

"And the smallest was on the thigh?" Bella asked thinking back to what she remembered about what Alice had told everyone about her vision of me changing.

"Yeah?" Alice answered in more of a questioning tone, as I imagined that she was trying to think of what Bella was contemplating. Then I saw a look of realization on Alice when she came back downstairs with Jasper in tow. "Oh!" she yelled sounding shocked. "It's Nessie's bite on the thigh."

I saw Renesmee smile as she came back into the family room, which even with the pain I was in and through my cloudy vision, it made me smile. She returned to my side, and I could still gentry stroke her face; her perfect face that was just barely softer than Bella's new granite one. "I love you, Nessie," I whispered into her ear which made her tear up. "Please help me," I begged.

Renesmee and I both looked at Bella who was still standing next to Edward, but now they had moved to the back of the couch I was lying on. "Please, momma. I wanna help papa." She was begging her mother too.

Bella smiled, her absolutely perfect smile which had me hopeful. She nodded at Renesmee which made both of us smile again. Then she kissed me one more time. This kiss felt different; there was something in it that singed my cheek, but it was still showing that she loved me.

"Where exactly is the smallest bite?" Edward asked to Alice. She had sat at my feet and pointed out the location on my left thigh, just about four inches above my knee.

Renesmee lifted her right hand to my cheek. I saw through her eyes what she wanted to have happen soon; the two of us with Jacob hunting for deer or something. I smiled and nodded; speaking had become painful, but she was right. I couldn't wait to begin my new life with my family. Even though seeing through my failing sight was difficult, I did see the desire on her face which made me want what she saw even more.

Edward instructed Renesmee on exactly what to do. "Nessie if you want to help Charlie, bite him but you can't drink him. This will probably hurt you from the thirst, but you want to help him. Let you teeth stay in him for a few seconds, then lick the wound shut, okay?"

Renesmee nodded before kissing the spot she would bite me. "Right here?" She asked to a nod from Alice. When she bit me, it was really gentle. It didn't hurt at first, the pain that by now had moved almost up to my right hip was too much to ignore. But after a second, Nessie's bite began to burn even hotter than my other leg and the fire there moved north even faster. When Renesmee pulled away from me, she did exactly as Edward had told her to; licking the wound closed and then giving my 'boo-boo' a kiss to make it feel better. I smiled as she returned next to my face, this time with her running her fingers through my hair; something she tended to go when she was near me.

Edward must had seen the pain I felt from Renesmee's bite, as I heard him whisper to Rosalie, "Go take a swab from Nessie's mouth. Something's different with her now. I can feel it."

"Come on, Nessie," Rosalie belted out in her beautiful voice. Renesmee ran to her favorite aunt and went to do whatever Edward wanted from her.

Nessie looked bored; there just wasn't any other way to describe it. She had shown me the way Carlisle kept measuring her for the first year of her life, and the way she felt about it. Now it sounded like Edward had something else he wanted to check her for. I hoped it was nothing serious.

"Bella, do you want to help your dad too?" Edward asked holding her around the waist. I couldn't believe how much the two of them had become more alike in the last few years. In the past, the two of them looked so different that physically they looked like there was no way they should be together, but now they looked perfect together. I wondered if Tanya and I would have a similar change in the future.

She started to move for my left arm, but stopped. Edward had cleared his throat and said, "I'll do that one. You take his neck."

Bella moved to the right side of my face and gently caressed it. Her skin felt so cold and hard, but her hand was so gentle against me that it felt great. I didn't even feel Edward's bite until about a minute later when the burning started in my arm too. By now, the fire had begun to spread from Renesmee's bite into my chest. In fact the flame from all of the bites began to spread, almost consuming my entire body except for my head, but that would change very soon.

Bella still held me, with her hands supporting me as her cold face moved to the right side of my neck. I felt a gentle kiss and then something incredibly sharp pierced my skin. This was the most painful of all the last few hours, and it seemed to last for a long time. I knew that Bella losing control was a serious possibility, but I was relieved when I felt a tongue licking my neck. I knew that the physical pain was over, but now this couldn't compare to the pain that I was about to feel. My eyes shut as the fire began to overtake my consciousness.

By the time that Bella finished what I hoped would be the final bite, the fire had spread all throughout my body. There wasn't a single spot that still felt cool to me, but it didn't hurt that much. Don't get me wrong, it stung and was uncomfortable as all get out, but with my family by my side I knew I could endure anything. I felt even better when Alice said that she saw Tanya coming with some of her family to see me. I just hoped that she would approve of my change.

A few minutes after they finished, I was moved upstairs onto what felt like a hospital bed. Nessie had returned to my side, and was excited. I couldn't stop thinking about why Edward wanted to test something about Nessie, but was glad she was back next to me.

"I love you papa," she whispered into my ear. She began to kiss all of my bites which did make me feel better. My sweet precious granddaughter loved me; I didn't need any other validation to tell me I had made the right decision.

Her words made me lose it. I couldn't hold back the tears any more. She was the reason that I wanted to be immortal. I didn't want to have to lose her.

Shortly after I was moved I heard the sound of the garage door close and knew that Carlisle had returned. Man this was getting weird; I know they said that my hearing'd improve but this seemed too early for it. It took Carlisle and Esme less than a minute to run from the garage to the room that served as Carlisle's office. He looked surprised when he saw three new bites spread across my body and me resting somewhat comfortably. But there was a swab that was awaiting his attention.

(Carlisle POV)

I was surprised when I walked into my office and saw Charlie resting. He looked peaceful, and I wondered how much morphine they had given him. However I saw no recent indications of a subcutaneous injection on him, and figured out that he was doing this with no assistance other than the love of the family. I'd have to ask Edward later to see how bad his pain was.

"Carlisle," Edward said almost silently, "Rose took a swab from Nessie's mouth. The bite on the thigh was hers and it's the reddest of them all."

I looked at the bites and was stunned. As it touched it, I could still feel the venom coming from it. "Incredible," I gasped. We knew that Nahuel was venomous, but never before had Renesmee shown any indication that she was. This was potentially dangerous to Jacob, since vampire venom was poison to actual werewolves, while we weren't completely sure about the shapeshifters.

As I examined the swab, it confirmed what I suspected; it contained a highly concentrated venom. In fact some of the cotton had already been eaten away by its acidity. When I compared the sample's potency to my own, I was shocked; the sample's was significantly stronger. I wondered if Nessie was only venomous when she would want to be, or her desire to help her grandfather triggered her to secrete venom. The only way to test these hypotheses would be to wait a few days and swab her again, but in the mean time I would take another sample now to verify the authenticity of the test.

As I approached Renesmee with another cotton swab as she was sitting next to Charlie, she looked annoyed. "Again?!" She whined.

"I'm afraid so Nessie," I answered smiling as she opened her mouth to allow me to take a sample. "The last sample nearly ate away the cotton, and I want to make sure that you won't hurt Jacob. It seems that your venom might be even more potent than anyone else's is."

"I don't wanna hurt my Jakey!" She said, understanding why I was checking again.

This sample, while still venomous, was nowhere near the potency of the prior one. It led to the plausibility of the theory that Renesmee only secreted venom when she wanted to. I would check again in a few days and suspected that unless she wanted to, she wouldn't secrete any more. My bigger question was what about when she hunted. Venom allowed us to paralyze our prey, but it would linger in our mouth for weeks; during that time she couldn't kiss Jacob when the time came when they were ready to move to a more intimate level in their relationship. I suspected that this would happen one day.


	9. New Edict

Chapter 9  
New Edict

(Bella)

Ever since I heard about a week ago that Alice and Esme had told Charlie the truth about us, I kept wondering why. My dad was resting, somewhat comfortably I hoped, as the fire slowly burned him to make him one of us. Carlisle had assured me that this would work; our venom would kill all of the cancer cells in his body and he would be healed. While it was true that Carlisle had never changed anyone with cancer, his venom did destroy all of the Spanish Influenza viruses in Edward, so he hoped it would work the same with cancer.

A part of me wanted to confront Esme about their little indiscretion with my dad, but I knew she would feel guilty about not telling me earlier. And besides I knew who the culprit was; my spiky haired midget sister. That was one of Jacob's favorite ways of razzing Alice. I still remember when he told her that anyone under five feet tall was technically a midget; that really steamed her, but the two of them had become close friends in the past few years. Just friends who tended to tease the crap out of each other.

Edward had gone hunting with Jacob and Renesmee, so the timing seemed perfect to confront my darling little sister. Jacob had rubbed off on me on this one; Alice hated it when I said that and I always emphasized the 'little' part. She'd normally stick her tongue out and blow a raspberry at me.

Alice was arraigning flowers like most nights. It was a shame that she had to stay hidden during the day, since she was so brilliant at landscaping and florals. I knocked on the door to her room. She must had seen me coming, because I even was able to knock, she sang, "Come in Bella," her soprano voice ringing.

"There's something I wanna know," I demanded of her, my displeasure made known through tone rather than volume. Alice was wearing a brand new pink sundress with a simple white pearl necklace. "When did you first see," but I started to stumble on the last part of my question.

Alice looked at me sympathetically. I could assume that she knew what I wanted to know, and why. "You want to know when I first saw Charlie becoming one of us, don't you." She asked completing my thought.

That was part of it, yes, but the bigger question was why she told Charlie the truth in the first place. I had promised him that we would at one point; I just assumed it would be when he was on his deathbed. I nodded in agreement. Maybe if she told me the answer to this one, I could figure out my other question.

"When I first met him," Alice answered completely casually.

I was stunned. She knew that early, even before I was a vampire. I couldn't believe it; hell I didn't want to believe it. But then again, she saw me as a vampire the first time she first met me. "That quick?" I finally stuttered out still almost in shock.

"I told you how my visions work, right?" She asked in reply. She might have, but it had to be when I was still human because I couldn't recall it at the time. I shrugged. "Ugh," she groaned, "the world's only forgetful vampire," she laughed at me. "I see the most likely possibility; when stuff is a long way off, it's kind of fuzzy." I looked at her confused. "Picture watching TV on a huge set that is using 'rabbit ears'."

I had no idea what she was talking about. I just kept looking at her cross eyed.

"Oh for goodness sake," she crowed, "how about trying to watch a video on a dial up modem?"

This one made some sense. I knew better than to try and download anything at Charlie's, since when I moved in, dial up was all he had. I nodded in reply.

"Great, so when I first saw Charlie, I saw him with red eyes, but it was really cloudy. I thought the eyes were because he was new, so I assumed he'd be like us."

"So when did it look like a T-3 line?" I asked sticking to the internet comparison.

Alice laughed. "When he came to see you after your transformation. There were two possibilities that day, but-"

"You saw me killing my father?" I shrieked out. My scream almost was high enough to break glass.

Alice covered her ears jokingly. "I didn't say that; in fact killing Charlie wasn't even a remote possibility that day… not really."

I growled at her. "What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped. I should have known Alice better; she always liked using riddles and anecdotes when telling stories.

"You weren't going to 'kill' Charlie," she said displaying air quotes on the word 'kill'. "You might have bitten him, but the boys would have been able to stop you from killing him. That was the day I was sure that Charlie would be one of us."

"Great, so there might have been two newborns. I'm sure Carlisle woulda loved that."

Alice laughed, her usual bell-like laugh. "Bella, your dad's gonna be fine."

"So why'd you tell him the truth when you did?"

Alice looked guilty; I wasn't sure if it was because I wanted her motives, or because she honestly didn't know. "Well, to be honest, Charlie was the only human I ever felt bad about lying to about us. He wasn't a threat to our secret, since exposing us would put all of the family in jeopardy."

"He doesn't care about what happens to him," I somewhat joked. I knew Charlie would make any sacrifice for me without caring the price to himself.

Alice shook her head, "I wasn't just talking about him, Bella. If Charlie told anyone about us, it would condemn us all since we told him. The Volturi is very secretive about our kind."

"Then why didn't Aro just kill us in Volterra?"

"That's not his style. Besides he really wanted Edward's and my gifts, and you intrigued him even more; never before had he seen a human's gift manifest itself so powerfully."

"Thanks Alice," I smiled as I hugged my annoying, but favorite sister-in-law. "Can I ask you one more thing?"

"Anytime."

I smiled again. "Can you see how my dad will do with the whole crazy newborn thing?"

"Sure I can. He'll be fine, maybe even better than you were."

"So does that mean-" but Alice interrupted me.

"His record will be as clean as mine and Carlisle's."

I grinned. "Emmett," I half shouted hoping that he would hear me. I should have known better than to have to speak above a whisper.

"What's up little sis?" He answered my call, entering Alice's room along with Jasper.

"How 'bout a little bet?"

"What now?" He asked back.

I should have guessed he'd still be steaming from our little arm wrestling bet. It had taken almost six months before my strength finally waned and he was able to beat me in feats of strength. Jasper entered the room shortly behind Emmett's arrival. "Be careful," Jasper warned his brother.

I could assume why Jasper was warning Emmett. He could probably read the confidence in me and knew that Emmett couldn't resist a bet, regardless of how bad the deck was stacked against him.

"Why?" Emmett asked to Jasper.

Before Jasper could even reply, I thought of what Charlie had been drooling over for the past few years; his dream car. So I fired the opening salvo. "I'll bet you that Charlie doesn't kill any humans in his first year."

"Careful," Jasper warned again at a whisper.

Emmett growled softly at his brother. This was one thing that Emmett had no chance at; being cautious about anything. When challenged his only action was to meet it head on. "Fine, what are the stakes?"

"How 'bout a car versus car bet? I win, you buy me the car of my choice; you win, same thing."

"You're on!" Emmett shouted as he shook my hand. I was no longer as strong as he was, and this shake hurt a little. As our hands separated, he looked right at Alice who was wearing a huge grin. "Oh crap!" He exclaimed as he realized he was screwed. "You didn't?"

"I never said I gambled fairly," I countered to him.

"Come on Alice; I mean you could have given me a warning or something."

"I tried to," Jasper defended his mate in his familiar southern drawl, "but once again your foolish pride got in the way."

Emmett growled again, this one a more human sounding one that came from his mouth. "So what kind of car am I buying you?"

"Truck actually," I answered him which seemed to intrigue him. "My dad's been salivating over the new Ford Raptor. That's what you're gonna buy **HIM**."

"Damn," Emmett crowed, "your dad's got good taste! I can't wait to see what one of those can do off road. They're supposed to shame Jeeps."

Alice gasped, and we all knew what that meant when her eyes went blank. She was clearly having a vision, but we couldn't interrupt her until it was finished. After a minute or so, it was over and her eyes returned to their normal color and she returned to arraigning her flowers like she had done before I had started talking to her. I knew I wouldn't get any answers from her so my best chance was Edward, who would be returning soon from his hunting trip.

I went to the family room to wait for them. Renesmee had grown what looked like another year, now making her look about 14. The relationship between Jacob and her had begun to turn romantic, but still nowhere near being intimate. A week ago, Renesmee had her first period; this surprised everyone in the house, but it also confirmed something. The two of them would be able to have children… one day. I didn't want to be a grandmother yet. I lowered my shield to let Edward read my thoughts so he would know what was worrying me.

* * *

(Edward)

I could hear Bella's thoughts perfectly clearly and knew she wanted some alone time. I suggested that Jacob take Nessie to La Push, since all of the Quileutes loved to see her. She just had that about her; she could make anyone love her in a matter of minutes. Of course, any excuse for Jacob to have time alone with Nessie was good enough for him, but there was a better one. Claire was staying with Quil for the weekend, and even though Nessie looked much older than Claire was, the two girls still really liked being together. About a mile from the house, I made the suggestion to Jacob who instantly agreed.

I ran through the thought in Bella's mind and understood what she was worried about. I had seen Alice's vision which couldn't be more than a few days away from happening. It was as clear as any I had seen from Alice in more than a decade. Bella needed to know. "Aro's about to make a new rule regarding newborns. He's using the events in Seattle a few years back as a reason to ban the creation of newborns without express consent of the Volturi."

Bella froze, this was not uncommon for our kind when we were startled or scared. It took a minute for her to reanimate. "What about Charlie?" She asked, her voice extremely grave. "I mean, he was bitten before Aro will announce it, right? So he'll be okay?"

I shrugged. I really didn't know. "It's hard to date when someone's actually bitten, so Aro might assume that Charlie was created by us to flaunt their authority."

I thought back to the night before Charlie was bitten. I clearly caught the scent of one of our kind on him at the ballgame, and knew who it was. For Heidi to be in Washington while we were here was unprecedented as she was not supposed to 'fish' anywhere near the territory that another coven claimed. Then the pieces started to fit. "It was all a plot," I whispered.

"What?" Bella asked, almost more worried now.

I started to tell Bella the story of some of us. "One of the ways we feed is by seducing our meals. The incubus and succubus are two examples. Nahuel's father could be considered one of the former, while Heidi and at one point, Tanya were examples of the latter. Tanya was actually looking for a mate. Many human males courted her almost half a millennia ago, but when the relationships turned physical Tanya couldn't control herself. She wasn't a vegetarian at the time, so when they kissed her, their scent overwhelmed her and she drained them.  
Heidi was different; she truly could be considered a succubus. She began on a similar to path as Tanya, seeking a mate but eventually a man tried to rape her about the same time Tanya cut herself off from contact with humans. He got a big surprise when Heidi turned the tables on him. She made their encounter as painful as possible for him, shattering many of his bones and even his testicles before she finally bit him. But she didn't completely drain him, instead letting the venom spread to burn him. Heidi must have seen the irony in this, being the daughter of a Lutheran bishop. She let him experience some of the fires of hell, just in case the real thing didn't exist. Heidi let him suffer for a short while before finally, mercifully killing him."

Bella was frozen again. I could tell that Heidi's nature terrified her. "Is she…" she started but couldn't go any further.

Bella's shield was still down, and I could read what she wanted to ask. "Tanya isn't, that's why she was so afraid of herself when Charlie's blood started singing to her. But Heidi is even worse than she once was." I assumed that Bella wondered how that was possible. "She hunted as I did for a while, focusing on sexual predators; rapists, child molesters, and the like. Had she stayed that way, then her actions might possibly be forgivable but now she cruises what you would call 'pick-up joints' or 'meat markets' for unsuspecting men, normally of average looks. Some of them might be willing to pay the price for a night with her, but she never asks them. And she is as rough with the innocent as she was with those who really deserved it."

"Not exactly my finest moments," a female visitor's voice rang out just after I heard the door close, "but it is my past."

Bella and I both turned to see Tanya followed by Eleazar and Carmen. "Hey guys!" Bella shouted in the joy of seeing our Alaskan friends.

"Hi Bella," Tanya replied, her face ravaged with guilt as she turned to Edward, "but why are you telling her my past?"

"Because I think one of our kind tried to seduce Charlie and when he turned her down, she bit him the next day." I had to be deliberately vague since to lob this kind of an accusation at a member of the Volturi without conclusive evidence would be a huge mistake, even though I knew that it was clearly her scent on Charlie at the game and his thoughts were of her. It was Heidi who cut Charlie and infected him with venom.

"How is Charlie doing with all of this?" Carmen asked, her concern sounding genuine.

"Actually he has been doing quite well," I answered smiling.

"Come on; he's gotta be in agony," Bella protested, countering my assumptions.

I shook my head. "He's in pain, yes; but agony, not so much. Do you remember how you focused solely on the whole newborn thing?" Bella nodded her head. "Well Charlie actually asked Carlisle about the transformation, so he was more prepared for that. I'm not sure how that will affect him when he's new, but-"

"Alice said that he'll be better than I was," Bella interrupted me to add.

I smiled, "I should have guessed you'd ask her about it."

"Charlie's even gonna get a new truck out of it," Bella gloated at the fact she had suckered Emmett thanks to Alice's help.

"But getting back to him in the present, Charlie hasn't been alone since he was bitten. Esme's with him now comforting and calming him, but Ness and Jake have been with him a lot too. Alice has sang gently to him. That is why I think it's going so well, and Alice is even speculating that his change will be shorter than most; because he has been so calm."

Eleazar took a sniff and I could tell what he was sensing; Charlie's gift was starting to materialize itself. It was possible that it might be incredibly powerful once he could learn to use and control it, since only one other vampire he ever met had a similar smell to their gift.


	10. Gifted

Chapter 10  
Gifted

(Edward)

I still couldn't believe whose gift that Eleazar thought Charlie's resembled the most. Jane was a complete sociopath who hurt people just because she enjoyed doing it; the fact that Aro often ordered her to do so was immaterial. There was no possibility that Charlie would ever end up like her in any way. But one thing still made no sense to me; shouldn't Charlie's gift be similar to Bella's since they are related. His thoughts always were a little muffled, but that may have been because of the small amount of time I actually spent with him. The more I thought about it, the less sure I really was since blood-related family being turned vampire was incredibly rare.

In fact, I could only think of a two pairs of relatives who both were turned and they were both brother and sister; the first was Aro and Didyme, who both did have mental abilities even though only one was truly useful. Didyme had the ability to create happiness; it seemed ironic that after her death, her mate, Marcus, became so apathetic. The second were those damned twins, Jane and Alec. Both of them were incredibly powerful offensively. But still, that left none that I could think of who were parent and child.

I must had stood statuesque for quite a while, since when my consciousness returned from my mind, only Eleazar remained with me. He was smiling and thought that I had heard exactly what he was thinking. "A penny for your thoughts?" He mused as he placed his right hand on my left shoulder gently.

I chuckled, since I couldn't even guess how many times I had heard others thinking that exact line. "How can Charlie's gift be so much like Jane's?" I asked, not trying to hide anything from Eleazar.

He shrugged. There was no way to know if a human would be gifted as a vampire until the transformation was nearing completion. This was an outstanding sign that his change was indeed proceeding extremely quickly. "I really don't know," Eleazar answered looking slightly concerned. "But with such a powerful gift he will surely be highly desirable to Aro."

"Do you think that he'll be able to torture people like … you know who?" I asked not hiding the disdain I felt for Jane, despite refusing to mention her name.

Eleazar shook his head, even though his thoughts weren't as certain of the answer. "Not if he's a friend of yours, but if his gift was ever to fall into the hands of Aro," he shrugged, "then who knows."

"More powerful than Jane, huh?" I mused trying to gain more information from Eleazar.

"It's still incredibly early; I'm surprised that I'm even able to get this much of an indication from him. You said he was bitten only yesterday morning?" His tone displayed the surprise he was so obviously feeling, even thought his thoughts expressed even more.

I nodded. I still wasn't sure if I should tell anyone yet of who I was almost certain the guilty party was, since it would be risky to do so. But I was interrupted by Tanya's shriek as she entered the room in which we were keeping Charlie. Eleazar and myself both sprinted to them, and was pleasantly surprised by what we saw.

Charlie had aged pretty significantly in the past few years, with Carlisle hypothesizing that it was due to the rapid spread of the cancer. But when I looked at Charlie's face, it looked years, no decades younger. He looked like he was in his early thirties, maybe even younger. "Carlisle!" I called just above my normal speaking voice knowing that if he was anywhere within a two mile radius from the house he'd hear it and come at once. I wasn't surprised when he entered the room less than a minute later.

"What's wrong?" Carlisle asked as soon as he entered, looking around the room.

"Look at Charlie," I said in a shocked voice as I pointed at him.

"Well I'll be," Carlisle whispered as he went closer to examine Charlie. "I always wondered what would happen when a vampire who was younger tried to change someone. I guess now we have the answer."

"What's he talking about," Bella asked to me as she had went with Tanya and Carmen to see Charlie while Eleazar and I remained talking about Charlie's gift.

"Your dad's getting younger. Like Carlisle said, every changed human was always bitten by an older vampire; this is the first time that Carlisle is aware of where the human was older."

"But you're a lot older than my dad," Bella said confused.

I wondered if she forget that two of those who did bite Charlie were much younger than he was, and also I and Heidi both were frozen at a much younger age. In addition, no one was really sure about what would happen when Renesmee bit someone.

We were interrupted from our conversation by sounds of groaning coming from Charlie. It was way too early for his change to be finished; Bella's was one of the most rapid ones on record, and even that took just over two days. Charlie was first bitten about 36 hours ago, so that meant at least another 12 hours of it.

"Bella," Charlie groaned out. A few more moans came from him, but he never did open his eyes.

Bella whooshed to her father's side to hold his hand. "I'm right here dad. What's wrong?" She asked concerned about the agony she had to assume he was feeling, but Charlie's thoughts were almost too clear to me now. Like before he was in discomfort, but with the help of our family it was nowhere near agony.

"Nothing's wrong, kiddo. Actually in not too long everything will be perfect." Charlie said as he breathed in deeply through his nose, with the pleasant scents he was taking in to his rapidly expanding brain with his newly developed senses pleasing him immensely. "Hmm, roses and hyacinth, and," he sniffed again, and his face contorted in the agony of an unpleasant smell, "Bella, do the Cullens have a dog?"

Everyone in the room laughed, realizing what Charlie had smelled. "Kind of," Bella answered her father as she rubbed his hair. By now, Tanya had joined Bella with her father, with her holding Charlie's left hand. "Jacob's about as loyal as one."

"That's Jacob?" Charlie said completely confused. "It stinks like a wet dog."

"Welcome to our world," Rosalie kidded with a smile on her face. She turned to Esme and added, "I told you we'd never get the smell out. Even someone who's only half conscious can tell."

There was assorted laughter throughout the room at Rosalie's quip, and Charlie let out another contented sigh. He still hadn't opened his eyes, so I assumed that his vision hadn't improved like his other senses. But now a new scent was catching his nose, one that was so familiar to me I knew it just by his thoughts. "Bells, is someone cutting limes or something like that?"

Bella smiled. Ever since her transformation that had been her primary scent. "No dad, that's me."

Charlie let a small grin show as well. Carlisle and I were still in shock from how easily Charlie's transformation was proceeding. I ran though Carlisle's thoughts again and he still was trying to find a way to explain it. I had a theory that I would ask about later, but not now. This was a time for telling Charlie about his new life; one that he had chosen with his own free will. I still couldn't believe that; that someone would voluntarily choose this life, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised about Charlie since Bella had done the same thing too.

I looked at Tanya who was in shock at the simple beauty of Charlie's younger and more perfect face. Any signs of aging that were present had disappeared and now the angles were become more defined and sharper. I nodded at Tanya when she thought if she should go sit next to Charlie, since she was falling even more in love with him by the minute.

Charlie sniffed again and a large grin crossed his lips as he picked up a new scent coming closer to him, in addition to now distinguishing the subtleties in all of our scents. Lilac, jasmine, and an even sweeter smell now overtook Charlie's senses; Tanya's strawberry one.

"Hi Charlie," Tanya said softly, allowing her voice to shine in all of its supernatural glory. A larger smile was on Charlie's face as he realized who was here as well. "How are you doing with all of this?"

Charlie's voice had gotten raspier from the thirst he was beginning to feel. It had yet to become more genteel and intoxicating. "Okay, all things considered," he said as his brain began to process his newly discovered thirst for the first time.

"Carlisle, will you come with me for a moment please?" I asked. I had an idea I wanted to try, and if Charlie would be willing, it might help speed his transformation even more. He nodded at me and we began to leave the room.

Charlie lifted his head and sniffed. It was apparent that he could tell from our scents that someone was leaving. "Where you goin'?" He asked.

"We'll be back in a moment. There's something I need to ask Carlisle."

We left the room and I immediately asked Carlisle about my idea. "What do you think we try to feed Charlie now?"

"I don't think he'll want human food any more," Carlisle answered me softly, both of us trying to keep our voices down, "and even though I have some O-neg here, I don't think we want to start him on human blood, even if it is donated."

I shook my head. "We also have some animal blood that I picked up from slaughterhouses. I was thinking more about trying that."

"Oh," Carlisle said embarrassed, "you think he's already thirsty? He hadn't even finished his transformation."

"True, but how many newborns are calm enough during the change to be talking so rationally during it?" I could hear the thoughts crossing Carlisle's mind. He was as curious as I was. "Why don't we at least try it and see; I think it might help him adopt the vegetarian lifestyle if he is started on animal blood early."

"We can ask him, but I wouldn't want to force him into anything. What he will be is his choice."

Yet again, I shook my head. "You know him better than that; his moral compass is very strong. He'll do anything he has to do to keep all the humans in Forks safe, even starve himself like you tried to in London."

Carlisle agreed with me and the two of us went to the refrigerator where I had been storing a few liters of various types of animal blood; mostly bovine and porcine. "What do you think we should start with, cow or pig?" I mused softly to Carlisle before grabbing one of the packets of pig's blood.

We returned to the room that could best be described as our infirmary. Immediately upon our entry, all of the vampires began to salivate from the smell of the blood. Carlisle would be the one to ask, "Charlie, we'd like to try something with you, if that's okay."

"Sure. I trust all of you," he answered back, his voice still incredibly raspy sounding as if his throat was parched.

"It might not seem pleasant, but we'd like you to at least try some pig's blood. It might help sooth your throat."

Charlie grimaced at first, not realizing exactly why we were asking him this. The thought of drinking blood scared him at first, but he remembered when he saw Alice and Esme hunt deer a few years ago. He remembered that he would so be like all of us, including sharing our thirst, and agreed. "If you think it'll help," Charlie groaned out, for the first time thinking about his thirst.

I cut open a small slit in the side of the bag and gently held it to his lips. His first thoughts about the taste was it was sour and bitter, but slowly I could hear Charlie think his throat was becoming soothed. He quickly downed the entire liter. "Umm," he sighed contented, "that was kind of good."

His thoughts never even suspected that he had just drank blood for the first time; all he could process was the burning in his throat had subsided for the moment. Then his thoughts clarified again. I could hear that the burning was already starting to end. His change was about to enter the final, and most painful stage. His rebirth was imminent.

* * *

(Marcus)

I still wondered why Aro had insisted that I accompany Dimitri to Brazil. The search for the experimenter could have been completed without me. Although it was extremely pleasant to get out of Volterra for a short while and explore the new world. How I had missed that.

We quickly found Nahuel and his aunt, Hulien in our quest to find the one truly responsible for their creation. But other than the names of Nahuel's other siblings, there was no way to get any lead on their father. Dimitri could not even begin to find a trail to him. He tried for two days to gain a start towards his half-sisters hoping that alone would enable him to begin to track. We never even could actually learn his name. The only thing I was sure of was this half-breed despised his father.

When we retuned to our home, I couldn't help but notice a lot of idle chatter among many members of the guard. It seemed that my brothers had been quite busy in the two weeks I had been gone. Some of our more gifted fighters were hoping for some action in the very near future, the result I gathered of some new law that Aro had devised in the time I had been gone.

"What is the meaning of this?" I demanded to Santiago, one of the loudest voices hoping for a fight.

"Nothing, sir," Santiago said, I assumed trying to conceal the reason I was sent away.

"Do you really want to lie to me?" I snapped as I threw a piece of parchment across the table at Santiago. "Now tell me the meaning of this." The paper contained a proposed law that would ban the creation of newborns. I wasn't completely opposed to the measure, what with the event in the past but the timing seemed suspect. There hadn't been any rash of killings by newborns in more than five years.

Santiago either didn't know the actual reasons, or was prohibited from telling me. It no longer mattered to me; if my brothers didn't see fit to tell me their motives, then I was prepared to do something I should have a long time ago. The death of my beloved made me stay for the time being, and since then the desire to leave had not crossed my mind. However, since our encounter with the Cullens a few years ago, I had grown suspicious of my comrades true motives. The way that their coven lived intrigued me and their ties were stronger than any that Chelsea could break or create.

Santiago would not tell me anything, so I softly growled at him. What very few knew about me was that I was an extremely skilled fighter in the past. Even still, taking on a warrior of his caliber would have been an interesting match, but I was not interested in actual combat at this time. Fighting all of the guard, even without Jane and Alec was something that I would be sure to fail at, but if I could take out the other ancients, my former brothers, then my death would be worth it. I knew that as we had replaced the Romanians, surely someone would replace us in upholding the laws necessary to our kind.

My final thought in the presence of our guard, was of the human Bella. Secrecy might not be necessary for eternity, but the only way that one day we might be able to expose ourselves would be if we all adopted the diet of the Cullens. I was not opposed to trying this, since Heidi had been beginning to abduct more people with the growth of the guard. It was becoming clear to me that these actions were unjust, and I needed to change my ways. Carlisle was right; we all had a choice to make, and I had made the wrong one.


	11. Rebirth

**AN:** The gap in the middle of chapter is when Charlie began to regain full cognitive functions when he talked to his family while his transformation was still in progress. I didn't think it was necessary to rehash that even from Charlie's POV now instead of Edward's in the last chapter.

* * *

Chapter 11Rebirth

(Charlie)

Nothing could have prepared me for this. No matter how long I talked to Carlisle and Edward about the transformation, they could never had done it justice. I was being burned alive… literally. But at the same time, knowing that my family was at my side had helped me immensely. Carlisle had said to expect agony, but it never really got that bad. It hurt, don't get me wrong, but I had expected much worse.

Jasper had given me the best advice; not to fight the pain, but to embrace it. Embrace it and let the fire do what it will. Yeah right; embrace the suck… easier said than done.

The hardest thing about the burning was that I had no way to know how long had past. About an hour after my family bit me, my eyesight started to fail me. Everything became very… well, cloudy is the only way I could describe it. Not only that, but the cloudy vision gave me an intense headache. Carlisle had told me to expect to be paralyzed, and lose control of my senses but that never happened. I could hear… well, everything going on in the house as clear as if someone was shouting directly into my ear after getting to the clinic after whatever happened in the river. I could hear my family talking no matter where they were in the house. Bella sounded mad at Alice for telling me the truth about them. Edward and Jacob were arguing about his wanting to start dating Renesmee. Esme and Carlisle were both nervous about what I would become. Carlisle had told me about the whole newborn experience, but thought that my having chose this life, would make me as able to control myself as Bella had.

Bella had told me that time would be the hardest thing to measure during the change. She was right. I didn't know if it had been a day or a year since it happened, even though I knew the whole thing was only supposed to take about three days. The only thing I could keep track of was changes in scents of who came. They were really subtle, but as I breathed in deeply I could differentiate between several pleasing scents… and one that was not so much. The scents had changed many times, but it seemed that now I was able to associate them with voices.

"Has there been any change?" I heard Bella ask to whoever was with her. She and Nessie had been the most constant at my side. I knew when they were there; don't ask me how, but I did.

"None," a man's voice said. This once was gruffer; harsher. It sounded like Edward, but at the same time didn't.

"He's gotta be in absolute hell," Bella supposed as I assumed that she was fishing from Edward for more information.

I had wanted to shout that I was fine; that although it was painful, I had no real issues with what was going on. I had been ready for it. In fact Carlisle had told me that it was the most painful thing he had ever gone through, but to this point it hadn't been all that bad.

I could hear the whoosh of a head moving but I wasn't sure if it was nodding or shaking. "Your dad's gonna be fine. I can hear him getting stronger," the man answered. Now I was sure that the other voice was Edward and his head had been shaking.

"I'm so sorry dad," Bella sang to me softly in my ear. Her new voice was absolutely enchanting. I could feel the cold breath come directly from her lips. "I never wanted this for you."

Edward chuckled, I assumed at Bella. "Funny, I never wanted this for you either."

"Mama, is papa gonna be okay?" This was obviously Nessie asking now. I tried to smile knowing that she was also at my side.

"Grandpa Charlie will be just fine, sweetie."

I felt two more people come in and at least one of them had to be Carlisle. I had been able to start differentiating their scents. Bella smelled somewhere in between limes and lemons, while Edward smelled extremely sweet, almost like antifreeze; kind of fitting for him, extremely attractive smelling but poisonous. Esme's scent was easy to distinguish; she was the sweetest honey that I had ever smelled before. One smelled of roses, the other lilac; I assumed that one of these was Rosalie and the other Alice but I wasn't sure which was which. Another had a backwoods scent to him, somewhere between maple and pine. Carlisle's scent was the most comforting. His was the most perfect incense, not too overpowering but just subtle enough for one to know it was being burned.

"Charlie, do you want to open your eyes yet?" This was Carlisle; I would know his soft tone anywhere.

I had closed my eyes tightly not long after I felt the last bites. All of my other senses improved quickly, but I had nearly gone blind. My failing sight gave me a massive headache which only went away when I kept my eyes shut. "No!" I struggled to shout, but was unsure if I still controlled the muscles to make the sound come out.

I heard the door open downstairs and assumed that new people were coming. The first whiffs of their scents were extremely pleasing, but the one that centered in my consciousness was of strawberries. It kind of made me hungry… well not hungry, since the smell of food cooking downstairs made me nauseous, but I longed for something but I didn't know what.

My smell was improving by the minute; I could make out the most subtle differences in them based on nothing but the direction of the wind. In addition, I could hear better than ever before. I could actually hear the radios playing from cars on the highway; this wouldn't have surprised if the highway wasn't more than three miles from the house. I could hear whispering downstairs. At least three voices I wasn't sure of, plus Edward and Bella.

Carlisle's voice pulled me back from inside my brain. "You're more than halfway through the transformation, I think. Unfortunately the last part is the most excruciating; when the venom stops your heart."

It hadn't been all that bad yet. I had felt a slight burn for the last while, but nothing like what Carlisle had said I was in for. Maybe the end wouldn't be that bad too.

"I think I'm gonna leave you alone for a little bit. It sounds like Bella would like some private time with you."

I smiled… I think. I couldn't be sure if my muscles were listening to me or not, as it felt like they were twitching and spasming on their own. Carlisle said that it was disorienting, since many of my muscles would be firing in their own throughout the change. But even still, Bella said that the release was incredible. I had been looking forward to that since I knew what happened.

It was great; having almost everyone I loved telling me what was going on, and what I should expect whenever I woke up from this.

* * *

Most of my family had come to see me again, including their Alaskan friends. The pig's blood that Edward fed me was sour but tangy and soothed my throat from the desert like burn I had been feeling. About twenty minutes after they gave me the blood, I started to feel different; almost like my toes had just fallen off. I only was able to understand the burning that I had felt since I was bitten, but now that had stopped in my feet. The fire began moving. But it wasn't leaving, rather it was retrenching. The flames shot towards the center of my body, first concentrating in my lungs. I could hear the sounds of things being singed. Was this the cancer? My lungs burned, but still, it wasn't that unbearable. What happened next though was excruciating.

The fire was pulling out from my feet and ankles, and also my hands. I don't know why, but I opened my eyes for the first time in however long it had been. My vision was indescribable. I could see… well everything. I could make out from more than twenty feet away the most subtle details in the wood-grained paneling on the walls. As I stared into the lightbulb, I could make out every color of the rainbow in it, and also an eighth color that I couldn't describe. My eyes stopped on Bella… or who I thought was Bella. I couldn't be sure of that; while she looked like my daughter, she didn't at the same time. Her face had changed slightly after what I know now was her transformation from human to vampire. The angles were different, but deep down I knew she was still the same person. But now I could see everything; every strand of hair as if it was under a high power microscope, the faintest sparkle from her diamond like skin, everything. I saw something flying past Bella's face, and that caught my attention. Just a common housefly. I could see everything about it; every little imperfection in his wings despite the fact its wings were flapping at a remarkable speed. I could see the smallest detail, yet again everything.

My thoughts returned to myself as the fire began to grow hotter in my chest, centered on a fist sized ball almost in the dead center. Carlisle had told me what was coming, and his warning could not do this justice. My heart burned hotter and hotter, feeling like it was engulfed in the fires of hell pumping through it. My blood felt like lava. I was able to scream, the most savage sounding pained scream that an animal could ever had made, and my eyes snapped closed again. I felt two gentle hands take me, and the scents told me who they were even before their voices said anything.

"It'll be okay dad," the voice on my left said. This one was obviously Bella.

The one on my right gave me a gentle squeeze. "The last part is the worse, but it'll pass Charlie. I promise." This voice sounded like an angel's and it was clear that it was Tanya.

I smiled as they held my hands and the fire seemed to cool for a few seconds, but then as the fire slowly pulled in from my legs and arms the heat increased yet again. "AGH!" I screamed as another flame ripped through my heart which seemed to make it speed up. "Okay, that one hurt," I grunted with what I thought was a grimace. By now only my heart and lungs were still on fire. Every other part of me felt amazing. I didn't have to think about anything to do it. When I wanted to squeeze Bella's and Tanya's hands it just happened; thinking was doing. At least until they shouted in pain as I heard what sounded like stone cracking. Bella had told me about this; how as a newborn vampire I'd be stronger than anyone else here. At the sound of their groans I tried to release their hands, but they didn't let go. In fact Bella, on my left used her other hand to gently caress the back of my hand.

My lungs were still burning slightly as I could still hear things being burnt in them, but that didn't last much longer. No sooner had the burning there started that the fire left my lungs and my heart burned even hotter. That's when something happened I wasn't ready for. My resting heart rate was about 75 beat a minute. Shortly after I had been bitten and my hearing improved, I could hear my own heart beating, and it had been closer to 100. But now another gasping scream came from my mouth as my heart rate slowly took off.

The pain had gone from mill discomfort to unbearable and now was absolutely excruciating. I had had enough; I wanted to die now. It was too much. Edward was in the corner of the room and I heard him rush to my side, with him just behind Bella. "Don't fight it," he said softly.

All I could do was think what the hell does he want me to do.

Yet again Edward said, "Don't fight the pain. You're almost through it. Just trust me."

I nodded, and gave in. I stopped thinking about the burn which seemed to fade slightly. My heart rate had increased to almost 150 beats a minute and I could hear every one of them. My heart kept beating harder and harder and faster and faster by the second. It felt as if my heart would break through my sternum at any moment. My heart was fighting a battle with the fire, and was losing. Now my heart rate was approaching 200 beats, sounding more like a single long note than a steady but fast rhythm. I knew this wasn't good. My heart couldn't go on like this for much longer. But then something happened I wasn't ready for; my heart missed a beat, then another, before it thudded almost silently once more and then… I kept waiting for another sound but none came. No breathing; no thrumming heart. Nothing. Was I dead?

I opened my eyes again, and heard absolute silence. But I was entirely conscious of everything. I started to look around the room; as soon as I wanted to move my head, it was there. I never felt my head move.

"Dad?" Bella asked realizing that the change was over. "Dad, how do you feel?"

I breathed in deeply again through my nose and could decipher smells I couldn't even just a few minutes ago. I smiled; this time I knew that it was over. "Incredible," I gasped at a whisper. This was the only word that seemed to fit. I continued to look around and was shocked at what I saw. My old eyes couldn't do justice to any of them. These new eyes saw things in my family that I couldn't even imagine in them before. Jasper was the most frightening, as I could clearly see many scars running across his arms; several half crescent moon shaped marked that looked exactly like the bite marks I had on me.

"Amazing!" Jasper gasped, which made everyone turn to look at him. He must have known what everyone was wanting to know, because no sooner had all the eyes in the room stopped on him did he follow up. "He's even calmer than Bella was."

"You wanna hunt dad?" Bella asked me smiling. "It'll help your throat."

To be honest, my throat wasn't really that uncomfortable until Bella brought it up, more kind of a dry burn than actual fire. I did remember what they told me about being new; how the only thing I'd be able to think about would be the thirst. "I guess," I answered. I had wanted my first hunt to include Renesmee, but I hadn't seen her yet. Just then the smell of something caught my nose.

"Oh crap!" Bella shouted upset about something.

"What is it love?" Edward asked to her sounding just as worried.

"Human," she whispered to him, but everyone heard it.

I sniffed again. While the scent smelled absolutely delicious and tempting, knowing it was a person made me file it in the 'forbidden fruit' category.

"Impressive," Edward gasped smiling at me. Bella looked confused at him, along with most of the rest of the family. "Charlie is showing absolutely no instinct to go after the humans. Alice was right; his record will be as clean as Carlisle."

Emmett scowled while Jasper frowned. "Damn it!" Emmett whispered, upset about something. "I hope you enjoy it Charlie."

I tilted my head in confusion. I had no idea what he was talking about and was just about to ask before Bella growled at Emmett. This was not the playful one she had shown me about a week ago, but rather was completely terrifying. She was pissed at Emmett; it wasn't hard to tell that her look was aimed directly at him.

"Come on dad; let's hunt!" Bella shouted in excitement to me. She had a large smile on her face and was trying to pull me out of the room.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Alice crowed trying to get our attention. "Charlie's gotta see this first."

Bella scowled at Alice; this wasn't something I was used to as the two of them had been the closest of all of the in-laws. "Not now Alice," Bella snarled at a whisper. "The humans!" She added. Bella must have been assuming that whoever it was was coming to the house for some reason.

"Your dad's fine," Alice said smiling as she also tried to drag me in a different direction than Bella. I felt like a rope being used in a tug-of-war. "Even Jasper sees how in control of himself he is."

Jasper looked stunned. I hoped that Alice was right about me being completely in control of myself, but did I really want to chance it with someone I knew? Not really.

"Thirty seconds… please?" Alice was begging, giving Bella a sad puppy dog face.

"How can something so small be so annoying and evil," Bella protested, but we both knew that she was giving in.

"Yay!" Alice crowed in triumph with a large grin on her face as Bella dropped my hand and let Alice pull me wherever she wanted to take me. Even though I could have resisted, it was so much more fun to let Alice have her way. She was just so happy-go-lucky, and it always made me feel great to give her whatever she wanted.

We stopped in front of one of the walls of glass that made up the Cullen's home. I was speechless in what I saw. The first thing was the eyes. Any description that Carlisle had given me about them couldn't begin to do them justice. Bright red; somewhere the most brilliant crimson and scarlet you have ever seen in your life. In addition the shape had changed… slightly. They looked absolutely terrifying. These must have been the eyes that gave rise to the phrase 'stone cold killer'. I was concerned since all of the Cullens' eyes were brilliant honey gold. I found out in the past few weeks that they darkened the longer they went without hunting, but I had never seen anyone with eyes this deep of a red.

My focus moved away from the eyes and to the rest of my face. The lines were harder now; sharper. I looked like something that was dangerous. In my former life I would have been scared shitless if I ever ran into something like I was now in a dark alley, but that made sense. I was supposed to terrify people now. As I moved even further out, taking in the whole of my new appearance I was in awe of the simple handsomeness of me. I stood perfectly still in shock of what I had seen.

"Dad?" Bella yelled which snapped me back from my thoughts. "We should hunt before Ness and Jacob get back.

"The eyes!" I gasped absolutely terrified by my new face.

"Give it a few months Charlie," Alice said smiling at me as she handed me back to Bella, "and they'll darken up like ours are."

 _A few months_ , I thought worried that I wouldn't be able to go out in public for that long. But then again, I had everything I could ever want right here with me now. Then a kind of sinister thought crossed my mind; wouldn't it be fun to give Phil a good scare. Edward glared at me and I quickly shook my head to remove that thought. I remembered what Edward had said; that there were consequences for knowing the truth and I couldn't put Renee anywhere near them. I still cared for her too much, even though now I was infatuated with Tanya even more. After another two seconds, Edward gave me an approving look.

My family had told me that I might be a danger to Jacob and Nessie more than anyone else, but I didn't have any desire for human blood. I still wasn't sure who it was that I caught the scent of, but I had no inclination for it. I kept thinking that it could have been one of my friends.

Edward nodded at me. Apparently he knew exactly who it was, and while a part of me was curious, I really didn't want to know. I was proud of myself for being able to resist the call of human blood. But now it was time to learn to hunt; something that I had a slight idea of how to due from seeing Alice and Esme a few years ago, but still no real idea on what I was doing. Bella slid open a giant pane of glass from the second story of the house and then jumped down to the ground. I looked at her in awe. This was going to be interesting.


	12. New

Chapter 12  
New

(Charlie)

The release from the fire was absolutely incredible. There wasn't an inch of my body that didn't feel amazing, but still when looking at my reflection I scared the snot out of myself. It was just after midnight and pitch black outside, so the windows of the Cullens' house served as mirrors. The eyes, the angles of everything; this body looked dangerous. Alice must had dressed me, since the last thing I remembered wearing was my old waders and some dirty old tee shirt. Now I was dressed in a pair of tan slacks, expertly tailored to me. I always had a weird size, so buying clothes off the rack was a little tricky; getting the inseam right was always the issue. These were the perfect length so that none of my socks showed but they weren't too long. For a shirt, she put me in a salmon colored polo with a little fish logo on it. I couldn't help but appreciate the irony. And then there was the pair of black wingtip shoes that I was in, perfectly shined to a high polish.

It was so easy to move now. Anything I wanted this body to do, it did instantly; from minor movements like shaking my head to walking at speeds faster than Usain Bolt could even dream of. Forget a sprinter, this body was faster than a drag car.

After Alice was satisfied that I had looked at myself for enough time, Bella took my hand and led me to the north wall of the second story of the house. She slid open a huge pane of glass with absolutely no effort at all. I mean the thing had to weigh at least half a ton and she slid it open like it was nothing. "Come on," she whispered as she nodded her head towards the open window. What she did next surprised the hell out of me. Bella grabbed my hand, giving it a gentle squeeze and then let go as she jumped from the window.

At first I thought that she was going to hurt herself until I saw her do three full backflips in the air and then landing on her feet with perfect grace. I was completely in awe of her and my jaw fell wide. Bella had always been kind of a klutz but here she was jumping from twenty feet or so off the ground and landed better than the best gymnasts in the world. "Wow!" I gasped.

"Come on," she whispered again. "You can do it dad; just jump. It's really easy."

I put one foot over the ledge and stood there for a fraction of a second, then stepped off the ledge. The fall was a huge adrenaline rush, but it seemed to last for way too long. The ground came at me much too slowly. I should have been moving much faster than this. It seemed like nothing to set my feet at just the right angle to absorb the impact form landing on the rock covered grass. And then… I landed with as much grace as she did on the balls of my feet. "That's so cool!" I shouted in the exhilaration from jumping from the window.

"You're incredible dad," Bella whispered into my right ear as she hugged me, which I returned too tightly again. She groaned from it and I instantly released her and recoiled from her more than 100 yards in less than a second. Bella followed me closing the distance even quicker than I had. "It takes some getting used to, but don't worry dad. You can't hurt me." She smiled and then she kissed me on the right cheek.

I grinned again as I took in her sweet citrusy smell. It was intoxicating at least until that other one hit my consciousness.

As Bella pulled away and started to turn to head north, I caught another scent. This one was slightly sour and I realized at once what it was from the sound that accompanied it. There was a car idling on the other side of the house. That's when another scent nearly overtook my mind.

It was delicious, making my mouth nearly salivate and the burn in my throat to increase. This smell was the most divine scent that I had ever smelled before. Instinctively, I started to head to see what could be so tempting but Bella grabbed my hand again and tried to pull me away to the north.

"We've gotta get out of here," Bella said sounding completely worried about what I would do to whatever was making this smell. She pulled me, but I wasn't going to go with her until I saw what it was.

I saw a bright yellow Volkswagen and recognized the driver. It was someone I hadn't seen since Bella and Edward's wedding but I knew instantly who it was. It was Angela Weber. Immediately, I realized what was happening. Carlisle had warned that at the beginning the instinct to hunt, especially humans, could overtake almost every other but I was able to stop myself before I ever started. I knew why Bella was trying to pull me away. She knew that it was a human at least, and maybe even that it was one of her friends. I breathed in the scent one more time in order to store it as one of those that I could not allow the hunting instinct to take over for and then I turned north with Bella, grabbing her hand and heading deep into the woods to get as far away from any people that could possibly be around.

The run was absolutely exhilarating; we ran north the twenty miles or so to the Strait of Juan de Fuca which only took about three minutes. The trees flew past us with such speed that if any one of them were to hit us it would have caused a huge explosion sound, but it was only to easy to dart around them. The forest seemed strange; I never noticed anything all that different about the Cullens until Alice and Esme told me their secret. But it seemed that all of the animals of the forest knew to hide as we past. They were terrorized by us. That night the run they took me for to the Pacific coast onto the La Push beach had shown me something I had never expected. But they never scared me even as they showed me the whole truth about themselves.

"Where we gonna go Bells?" I asked after we stopped at the shoreline. I knew that the strait was about 15 miles or so wide here. Jumping couldn't be an option. But still I wasn't ready for what she had said.

"Well, either we can swim it, or run on it," she said with all seriousness.

Bella wore a bight blue, tightly fitting cocktail type dress that had the side seams right to just above her mid thigh. I still had no reason why she's wear that to go hunting deer or whatever we were going after, but I knew one thing more than anything else. If anything happened to the dress, Alice wouldn't forgive me. I laughed as I started thinking more about her dress than her own safety. "Run… on it?" I asked completely stunned by the possibility of walking on water.

"It's easy," she whispered as she backed up about twenty feet or so and began sprinting again. She took two long strides and then she was running on top of the water. I barely even saw any splashes from where her feet touched the surface. Yet again, I was in awe of her with my jaw nearly on the ground.

Man this was so weird; I could see her on the other shore in less than a minute and she was waving at me and laughing. Not to be outdone, I did exactly what she had done; backing up about twice the distance she had and then sprinting. I was nowhere near as graceful as she was as water splashed more than twenty feet from me on my footfalls. She resembled a ballerina, while I was more like a bulldozer. But still less than ninety seconds later I was on the other shore holding on to her from excitement.

Bella started laughing at me and it took me a second to figure out why. While the air was in the mid fifties, the water was closer to forty degrees. I only noticed from the sound of the water dripping off of me and onto the rocky sand that I was completely drenched from head to tow from my run across. When I did realize it, I joined her in laughter; her sounding like a bell chiming, while mine more like a deep guffaw.

We ran north some more until we were more than ten miles from the last town we saw. Bella took two deep sniffs and then said, "I don't smell anything human. Dad take a deep sniff."

I did and started listening closely. Quickly I heard a loud thudding and smelled a small stream somewhere to the east of where we were. Slowly I began salivating from this new scent. "What is that?" I asked as the instincts to hunt began to overtake me.

Bella sniffed one more time and answered me in only half a second. "Mountain lion," she said not sounding concerned at all.

"Lion?" I asked looking right at her and she nodded in reply. I had assumed that my first hunt would be something easy like deer or elk, but to hunt something like that on my first time; my daughter had to out of her damned mind.

"Predators satiate the thirst better than herbivores."

Now it made sense. I didn't need any more instructions as I simply let the instincts take over. Quickly I moved through to top of tree branches as I stalked my prey. It was only too easy to jump from limb to limb to position myself just right for my strike, even when those limbs were more than fifty feet apart. The big cat was lying on a patch of prairie grass lounging underneath a huge oak tree. I positioned myself directly above him, allowing the scent of the cat to completely overcome me, and then…

I leapt from the tree landing directly on the lion's back. He snarled and bucked trying to throw me off of him but it was futile. My iron like grasp wasn't letting go as my mouth opened wide exposing rows of razor sharp teeth. It was only too easy allowing my mouth to close right over his jugular and began to drink the liquid that flowed from the wound. Slowly the animal lost the will or ability to fight, but not before his claws tried to score hits to my body. The massive paws and claws only served to tickle me, and I had to suppress chuckles from his strikes. The blood, while not the most delicious thing I had ever tasted was hot and tangy as it soothed the gentle burn that had crept back into my throat. It seemed to take a really long time, but in reality from the time I landed on the lion to when he was completely empty was only a minute or so. But the thirst wasn't gone, it was only lessened.

Bella chuckled at me looking at me after my first wild vampiric meal. "You're better than I was," she joked with me. "I still have the evidence from my first hunt."

"Evidence?" I asked wondering what she was talking about.

"Alice still hasn't forgiven me for ruining a dress just like this one," she answered as she pointed at the dress she wore. "It ended up in complete tatters."

About five minutes after the first lion, Bella started after something. It didn't smell as good as the lion, but it was large; that much I could tell from the heavily thudding heart and large hooves. Two minutes later, the two of us came across a small herd of elk, two bucks and three does. I watched her go after the smaller stag first. Her movements were even more graceful than Alice and Esme that night three years ago. Yet again I stood in awe of her before my thirst started to bother me again. I went after the other stag. Hunting herbivores was so much easier than the lion, but it didn't taste quite as good. It didn't matter, since the warm blood was just as filling as the lion's. Bella ended up drinking one doe in addition to her stag, while I had both the remaining ones.

After that my stomach felt kind of sloshy, similar to how I felt after drinking too much of anything. But I didn't feel sick at all. The thirst, though quieted for the moment, would not go completely away. We started to walk back to the south and I thought of something, but before I could ask about it Bella beat me to it.

"I wonder what Angela wanted," she said sounding worried about why Angela had come to the Cullens'.

No one knew exactly where I was, since I had all but abandoned my old house. I assumed that she simply wanted to find Bella about something, and figured that I would be the first place she should start. And then when she found nothing in my old house except a 'for sale' sign, the next likely place was the Cullens'. One thing worried me about Ang; she was just too perceptive for her own good. I knew that she would notice that I looked younger than when she last saw me, and that Edward and Bella hadn't aged at all. But I still couldn't bear the thought of hurting her.

* * *

(Edward)

Bella's and Charlie's thoughts had become muted about two minutes before I headed outside to see who was invading our home. Instantly I recognized the old yellow Jetta as being Angela's. Of all of Bella's old human friends, she was always the nicest to her, even when I forced her into that hell when I left her. It had taken two minutes of fishing in her mind before she finally uttered in her thoughts the reason she had come her. Naturally she was looking for Bella.

While walking down the front steps I cleared my throat which seamed to startle her as she had just gotten out of the car. I looked at her appearance and it had changed slightly in the last four years; she had gained another inch and had become slightly curvier than I last remembered her. But those weren't the only things that had changed about her. She sported something on the third finger on her left hand.

It was a simple gold band with a small diamond inlaid in it. She had been engaged to Ben Cheney in the last few weeks and was beginning the planning for her wedding.

"Edward!" She shrieked excited to see me again, since she obviously knew that Bella wouldn't be far away. "I've been looking for you." She was smiling from seeing me, but slowly the realization hit her; I hadn't changed at all in the last few years. "You still look amazing."

"Thanks," I allowed my humany voice to say while displaying a gentle smile. I knew I needed to be careful since, thanks to Aro's most recent rule, no longer was changing her an option, even thought I would never do that to her. "And congratulations," I added.

"For what?" She asked as I gave her my answer by simply pointing at her left hand. She realized that it wasn't the hard to decipher since she wore the ring, and face-palmed smacking her nose a littler harder than necessary which caused her to think about the pain she had just inflicted on her self.

There was the slightest trickle of blood from her nose, but in the past three years I had learned to control myself even better than before. I did stop breathing to allow the scent not to over power me, but it stopped quickly enough.

"Is Bella in?" She asked, and I knew why.

I shook my head. "She's out of town right now for work, but she should be back soon enough."

Angela frowned. I knew what she wanted to ask her, but this wasn't the time to inquire more about it. In any case, it should be Bella's decision how much of her old life she felt comfortable with bringing into her new.

"How 'bout your sister?"

"Alice?" I asked and no sooner than I had said her name had she appeared on the porch. She had know just as well as I had who was out here and also what she wanted. Alice walked down the steps slightly faster than a human walk, but still nowhere near anything that would have given away what we really were. She was by us in less than thirty seconds and I decided to let them be in peace, even though I could hear perfectly what they would be discussing from anywhere on our property.


	13. Dangerous

I'd like to apologize for it being so long between chapters, but I've been very busy the last few weeks, coupled with a little bit of writer's block. Hopefully I'll be able to fight it off in the not too distant future and be back at my normal pace. As always, thanks for reading and any reviews and comments are appreciated.

* * *

Chapter 13

Dangerous

(Alice)

I had seen this as a possibility when Bella and Edward announced their wedding that someone, most likely Angela, who would come and then want me to also do their wedding also. While it had the potential to expose us as something more than human, I didn't worry about many of those who had befriended us during our senior year at Forks since many of them were true friends. At the same time Angela had become much more than a good friend to Bella and I in the time between our return from Edward's self imposed exile after her 18th birthday and their wedding. I really doubted my strength to be able to tell Angela no.

I had heard Edward and Angela talking outside and my gift had shown me this as a possibility for about a month now. Ben had proposed to her, and in the aftermath of her acceptance I was able to see most of my family in attendance. The venue changed a few times, including once at our house. Still, I silently walked outside to allow her to ask what she wanted of me. I was unsure about what I would say, and was grateful to have Edward with me.

When walking down the porch I sped up to a run that was maybe a little too quick. While it wasn't at above human speed, barely, it was faster than I had ever moved outside of people who were aware that we were different. I grabbed Angela in a gentle hug which made Edward scowl at me. I don't know what she had thought about it and I didn't care; I was just so happy to see her again.

"Angela!" I screeched from the joy of seeing her. "It's been way too long." I started to take notice of her appearance and was happy to see he looking much the same that she did the last time I saw her. She had become a little more curvy, but other than that she looked exactly as I remembered her.

Angela smiled at me as I noticed Edward return inside. Even though I could tell that he knew what she wanted to ask, he'd still be able to hear our conversation from anywhere in the house and this was something that was a girl thing. I returned her smile; it was completely genuine. I missed her and so did Bella. "So what's up?" I finally asked even though I already knew.

"Well," Angela started, but soon stuttered as I could assume she was afraid of what I would answer her, "Ben and I... we're… eng-"

I cut her off with an excited shriek. I had seen this as a possibility for the two of them when I first met them. Angela and Ben we're just about as perfect together as Edward and Bella were. They both deeply loved each other, despite having some separate interests. I grabbed her left hand, and examined the ring on her third finger. I had forgotten that I had never really touched her before and she gasped a little from my cold touch. Her ring was absolutely gorgeous and traditional; a gold band with three diamond set in the middle. They weren't very large stones, but they made the point that Ben had wanted to share.

"Congrats guys!" I let out in my regular voice. I had forgotten to keep the façade and besides, I knew that Angela wasn't a threat to our secret.

"That wasn't why I came looking for you and Bella. I wanted to ask you," Angela was having issues continuing with her question even though I knew what she wanted.

"Yes," I said softly as I gently hugged her. "I'd love to do your wedding."

Angela was shocked. I had guessed her question perfectly and could only stand with her mouth open wide. Just then the wind shifted and I caught whiff of Angela's scent. I hadn't hunted in more than a week, so I was very thirsty. I had never been so close to a human when I was in jeopardy of losing control since I saw Bella after I had thought she killed herself by jumping from the cliff. Angela's scent was almost as intoxicating as Bella had been back then. I had to fight with every piece of strength I could find so I didn't hurt her. Anyone other than myself and a few others might had already done the unspeakable act of hurting one of Bella's very best friends; a friend only second to myself.

Finally Angela was able to ask the second part of her question. "Hey Alice," she started, scared to continue as I put my right hand on her shoulder, "what do you think if I asked Bella to be my maid of honor?"

I smiled again widely, the remaining light glistening off of my teeth. "I think she'd be flattered and delighted." Angela joined me with a huge smile on her face. I was going to miss her when we moved away. Her and Bella were so much alike that I had a forbidden thought for a second and started to act on it. I slowly started to move my mouth to her throat but was able to stop myself before I gave anything away. Just then a vision crossed my head.

The field looked much like it had when the Volturi came thinking that Nessie was an immortal child. The entirety of the guard was there, including a few new faces that I was unfamiliar with. But there was also something different.

Marcus entered the field with his brothers, but as Aro began accusing us of whatever the crime we were charged with, Marcus simply walked towards us. His hands were up in surrender and Edward knew that he wasn't coming to harm us, but rather to assist us. He knew that his brothers were up to something that he no longer could be a part of and knew that escape or death were his only possibilities. He would either join our family, either fully or in part, or would allow himself to die. But then my vision cut away from that scene and back to the present.

Angela had been saying something but I didn't hear any of it. That was the downside when I had a vision; they completely overtook my consciousness. I nodded at Angela, hoping that it was nothing important but it appeared that I was wrong. The first thing she said that I could focus on was, "So when do you want to go? I think that Seattle would probably be my best bet."

"Huh?" I answered hoping that she would repeat what I had missed.

"There's probably not a lot of good wedding dresses in Port Angeles," she said looking a little annoyed at me.

In truth there was one competent dressmaker in Port Angeles whom I would trust with a wedding dress, but Angela was right on this one. To look for a dress that she liked it would be better to go to a bigger city. I hadn't seen Angela in so long that it would be a good opportunity for her and I to get to spend some time together and I was certain that Bella would come too, especially if she was going to accept Angela's offer to be her maid of honor. "I don't know," I answered to her question ignoring her recent statement and only focusing on the when rather than the why, "Bella is on a trip with," I was about to say Charlie, but I couldn't. We had to let people think that Charlie had either moved away or had passed away. The exact story hadn't been decided on yet. Yes, people thought that he moved overseas, but at some point we'd have to let people know of his 'death'. "Bella's in La Push with Jacob Black," I lied. This one would be believable since many knew that the two of them were friends, even if they didn't know all of the specifics.

"But she'll be back later today, right? I mean, I'm in town for the week so I was hoping to get to see some of the old gang that's still around." Angela frowned as she realized that of all of their friends who graduated with her, only the Cullens were still around Forks. Everyone else was either still in college or had moved away. Sure, Ben and Austin were both also at Washington State with her but that wasn't the only ones she wanted to see. Jessica and Mike were both at UW (u-dub) in Seattle, so they didn't see them at all which didn't bother Angela. I knew that she missed Bella and I couldn't blame her.

"She should be back in a few hours. Why don't I have her call you later, 'kay?"

Angela smiled and nodded. In truth, Bella and Charlie were on the outskirts of the property, but I assumed that they were waiting for her to leave so as not to chance Charlie's self control. While he had resisted the temptation when they left for their hunt, a newborn couldn't be completely sure of when the urge to hunt would overtake them. The thirst could be too much at anytime, so it was better not to chance it.

"Sounds good," Angela answered giving me a parting hug. "I'll call later if I don't hear form Bella this evening."

"She'll call. I promise. Call it psychic or whatever you want, but I know she wants to talk to you."

"Thanks Alice. God it was good to see you again. Bye."

"Bye," I smiled back allowing my teeth to glisten in the overcast light. I really didn't think about it, and it wasn't meant to scare her; I just opened my mouth too widely from seeing her again.

No sooner had Angela's car hit the highway that Bella and Charlie returned from their hunt. I took stock of the two of them. I had dressed Charlie casually; a pair of khakis and a polo, and while he got some blood on them and there was a few tears, they weren't in any way destroyed like Bella's dress had been after her first hunt. His outfit looked as if he had changed a tire or something like that and busted a knuckle.

"Angela and Ben, huh?" Bella asked allowing her voice to shine. Charlie smiled; now that he knew the truth we didn't have to keep up the appearances that we had in the past, although Esme and I had begun to drop them when we were alone with him after we told him the truth.

"How much did you hear?" I asked wondering if she knew what Angela had wanted.

"Enough," Bella smiled as she said coyly, "and you're right. I'd be thrilled to be her maid of honor. But isn't it a little risky? I mean I've changed so much since she saw me."

"It'll be fine Bella. I don't know if Charlie should come or not, but we'll see where he is when that time comes. Their preferred date isn't for another year almost, so his eyes won't be a problem."

"But I'm gonna guess that's not what you're worried about," she laughed.

"What is it?" Charlie asked, getting involved in the conversation. "Reverend Weber has been one of my best friends, outside of the La Push group. I'm sure that he'd want me to come."

Bella shook her head at her father. The issue wasn't whether or not Charlie'd be invited but rather what we would do with his story to outsiders. At some point we'd have to say that he had died and have some sort of a funeral for him in town. Exactly when we would do this wasn't time critical since the ruse had been circulated that Charlie had moved to Europe.

Charlie ran back inside, leaving Bella and I. I hoped that she hadn't been able to see me nearly bite Angela, but I should have known better. No sooner had Charlie gotten out of hearing distance did she ask me about it.

"Alice, can I ask you something else about the future?"

"Anything," I smiled back.

"Please don't take this the wrong way, but I miss some of the old gang. And the only way that I'll be able to see them for their lives would be if," but Bella stopped here as she couldn't allow herself to continue.

I knew what she wanted to say. "If we could tell them the truth about us?" I asked finishing her question to which she nodded. "Yes," I whispered trying to make sure that no one other than the two of us plus Edward would know until that time.

"How?" Bella asked, terrified of what this could mean for our friends. "I wouldn't want to curse them with this," she added pointing at herself, "and we couldn't change their whole families, could we?"

I shook my head, but in truth I had seen the possibility of some of them becoming vampires. "No, we couldn't change all of them," I answered at a silent whisper, again trying to limit the amount of people who would find out, "but maybe a few."

"Could I ask you which ones?" She asked with a gleam in her eye from hope, to which I nodded. "Angela?"

I nodded.

"Ben?"

Again a nod.

"Any others?"

I shrugged. I wasn't completely sure about anyone other than those two.

"What about telling others the truth?"

"Maybe one day," I answered. I had a vision a long time ago about the eventual fall of the Volturi and something would have to replace them, I just wasn't sure what. The secrecy rules might not be completely necessary for eternity and our closest friends could be allowed to find out if the penalty for divulgence wasn't set in stone and so harsh.

"Thanks Alice," Bella sang as she hugged me around the waist which I returned to her.

The two of us retuned inside, and I was grinning from ear to ear. "Esme!" I cried as we closed the door, at which my adoptive mother ran to my side. "We've got work to do." She was smiling widely as well now. "Angela Weber wants us to do her wedding."

"Wonderful," Esme yelled in excitement for having something to be doing in the near future. "When's their date?"

"We won't be as rushed as for Bella; still a year out, but she'll be expecting something just as nice since we'll have the time.

Bella and Charlie had sat on the couch and for the first time I noticed that Charlie's eyes had darkened much more than I anticipated from only one hunt. They were still red, but nowhere near as crimson as they had been, now closer to a reddish orange. I was beginning to wonder how long it would be before his eyes wouldn't require contacts to hide their color and began to look into his future, but before I could all of our futures disappeared. This could only mean one thing; Jacob and Renesmee were coming back.


	14. Singer

Chapter 14

Singer

(Edward)

I had known almost everything that Alice had told Bella, even the part about her seeing Angela and Ben as our kind. I was still a little surprised that she almost acted on it; with the recent acts of the Volturi, we could not risk creating any newborns at the present time. Simply having Charlie was risky enough.

When she had the idea to bite Angela, I nearly ran outside to stop Alice but that would have been even more dangerous. I always tried to let my family make their own choices even if I knew what those choices were, but in this case interceding would not have been possible. I would have needed to run at my full sprint, which at the very least would have exposed us as more than human and that was the best case scenario. More than likely, my rushing out would have surprised Alice (tough to believe, but spur of the moment decisions can still surprise her) and had that happened it could have been disastrous for Angela. At the very least, she would have growled at me and that would have made us further suspect. The very worst case would have been that Alice might have instantly killed Angela, which would have been something that Bella would have never forgiven her for, and it was very likely that Alice wouldn't ever forgive herself for it either.

With the fact that Bella was at the edge of the forest surrounding the house, I felt that my best course of action was to simply allow Alice to talk to Angela and hope that if something happened that Bella would be able to stop her. But Bella now knowing that it was a possibility for some of her- no, strike that- some of our high school friends to become vampires put a sense of hope in her that might be misplaced at the present time. We'd never be able to petition the Volturi to add to our coven since they already distrusted us too much; they'd never let us turn anyone. That left only one option. The Volturi would have to be overthrown. While it was true that, with Bella's help to neutralize Jane and Alec it was possible, still the odds of taking on the guard wasn't very good. But something brought me back to Alice's vision. Marcus had had enough of his brothers and wanted out. Chelsea's mate, Afton was the most loyal to Marcus since he understood the pain of losing his mate. If Aro tried anything on either Afton or Marcus, Chelsea could revolt which would start the collapse of the guard by destroying their ties to Aro and Caius. Only a few of the guard were loyal to Aro or Caius without Chelsea's influence; unfortunately the most powerful ones were. But still the odds would be much better if we only had to contend with two of the ancients plus Jane, Alec, and Felix.

Carlisle was in his study, so my best course of action was to talk to him about what Alice had seen about the Volturi. He would better know how to handle them since he spent a lot of time with them, especially Aro. "Carlisle," I said upon entering the room at a forced whisper which would still be able to be heard by everyone in the house.

"What's troubling you, my son?" He asked smiling as he looked up from a journal article he was reading.

By now everyone knew something was on my mind. The family did not eavesdrop on purpose; it was just a product of everyone having insanely good hearing.

Carlisle opposed violence, and he saw firsthand how badly revolutions can turn out. A parody of a Ralph Waldo Emerson quote came to my mind. 'If you're going to shoot at the king, don't miss.' This was exactly what we would have to do to take out the Volturi, and if we failed then all of our kind would be gunning for us.

"Alice saw something," I started not sure how much I should tell him. I waited a minute and was surprised when he looked so supportive.

"And?" Carlisle asked expectantly. His eyes were nervous; I didn't need my gift to tell that.

I should have known better than this. Telling Carlisle first might just be the dumbest thing that I could do. The Volturi still were his friends… at least some of them. He always felt incredibly guilty for Marcus because of the loss of his mate. It was true that no one really knew who killed Didyme except me of course.

"And I don't think you'll like what she saw," I answered him timidly. I was relieved somewhat when Eleazar entered as well. The two of them knew the Italians better than almost anyone else, since they escaped from them. "She saw the fall of Volterra."

Carlisle was understanding, but Eleazar was shocked. No one had ever tried to take the city because it simply could not be taken. There was always a contingent of the guard there at almost all times, excepting once; that being about four years ago now when they all came for us. No supernatural could have foreseen it so no one was either brave or foolish enough to try.

I had to elaborate more. "All of them; Aro, Caius, Jane, Alec. All of them guard too, except for Marcus. He's had enough of Aro and is ready to defect. No longer is Aro bothering to hide his lust for control and power and it makes Marcus sick."

Carlisle understood exactly what Marcus was feeling. Aro had been coming closer to this path at the end of Carlisle's time in Italy. Marcus's first concern was always for the law and if he knew who actually killed his mate, he may had challenged Aro to a duel a long time ago. If it came to a fight between the two of them, it would be interesting. While Aro would now exactly what Marcus was planning when Marcus got his hands on Aro, it would only be for milliseconds at a time. And Marcus was a much better fighter than almost all of the guard; a fact that not many in the guard actually knew.

That brought another possibility. Alice saw the ancients and the guard coming here. We'd have the upper hand in the region, but still that would leave many humans to be put in extreme danger which included many of our friends. The Volturi had been adding to their numbers expecting a fight for the past three years and would be able to feed on the locals. Jasper was certain that they would send an advanced force to if nothing else scout the area, much like he would have done during the Civil War as a member of the cavalry, but even Alice wasn't sure who would come or when.

Then there was another possibility. Charlie's newborn stage appeared to be progressing far faster than any of us were expecting. Not as fast as Bella's did, but still incredibly rapidly. I heard Charlie's muffled thoughts in the edge of the property. They were waiting for something before returning home; I assumed on Angela to leave as not to be even more temptation for him. I needed to ask Eleazar now about something.

"Have you gotten any more of an indication from Charlie as to his gift?" I asked Eleazar anxiously.

Eleazar shook his head frowning. "Not really. I feel whatever it is getting stronger, and can tell that it had something to do with fire but other than that, I just can't really get a read on it." He strained himself trying to search towards Charlie again, rubbing his hands to his temples to help him concentrate. He remained that way for a few minutes, completely motionless except for rubbing his head before groaning in frustration. "It's almost as if he's got some form of a shield too."

I nodded. "Ever since I met him, Charlie's been difficult to get a read on. Unlike Bella, who I am still completely kept out by unless she wants to let me in, with Charlie it just takes a lot of concentration… even still." Eleazar nodded in understanding as to why he was having so much difficulty with this. I added hopefully, "Maybe even his shield will be as strong as Bella's."

Once again, Eleazar shook his head. "That's not going to be his gift. I can only assume that if Bella's mother was changed too, her gift would be more similar to Bella's. But still, Charlie has some shield but that isn't his talent. His gift will be offensive in nature."

I smiled. At the current time, offensive fighters was what we needed. Jane and Alec, in physical combat could be easily neutralized. That still left many skilled fighters, that Emmett and Jasper would be all too eager to get their hands on.

"Was there anything else?" Carlisle asked placing his right arm around my shoulders. "Surely that wasn't the only thing bothering you."

"Well, there was one other thing," I started slowly. I wasn't sure if I should say what I wanted to in front of Eleazar. But he was one of Carlisle's closest friends, and Tanya was close to becoming Charlie's mate which would link our two covens- no families even closer.

"Yes?" Eleazar smiled. "You know that we're committed to doing the right thing and helping you."

I smiled, now confident in telling him.

"Alice saw some of Bella's friends being changed. She isn't sure yet on the details yet, but it's at least two of them, plus she lost sight of one other and she can't figure out why. And Billy Black has started to become cloudy."

They both pondered this for a moment. Ben Cheney's best friend Austin Marks, the two of whom stayed behind in Pullman at Washington State while Angela came home to tell her parents about the two of them getting married and also to ask Alice to do their wedding, had been much the same way as Billy had been for a few weeks to Alice before he completely disappeared. Alice had seen this before, but then I remembered something that Jacob had said. Leah was out of town looking at colleges, and included on her tour was WSU, along with Idaho and Boise State. That had to be it, Leah and Austin were simply meeting together, maybe even becoming very good friends.

Then I remembered something that Angela thought as she pulled onto our property. She received a phone call from Ben and he told her that Austin had met a girl the last evening, and she was very pretty. One of the girls from La Push in fact. This was it; it had to be Leah. The two of them had hit it off and that was why Alice was losing Austin. His future was getting intertwined with Leah's.

But that still left Billy. Most of the elders of the Quileutes had been wolves at one time, but the older ones all stopped phasing long ago. In fact Billy's last phase had been more than thirty years ago. It made no real sense as to why Alice would be losing his future unless…

My thoughts went to the story of the third wife. Taha Aki was so enraged after the sacrifice of his third wife that his wolf form sprang forth, even though it had been more than fifteen years since his last phase. It made sense; with enough rage even a wolf long since his last change could get triggered.

Just then there was about to be a knock on the door from Tanya. She resented the fact that she couldn't go with Charlie on his first hunt, but Carlisle was able to convince her that Bella by herself could handle him best. I waited for the extra two seconds for her to knock; she had known that Carlisle and Eleazar were both in the study and wanted to talk to them even though I could provide more insight into what she wanted to ask.

I was a little surprised when Carmen came in with Tanya, mainly because her thoughts were always so quiet compared to most of our kind.

"What is bothering you, my child?" Eleazar asked with his gentle smile on his face. Even though Tanya was the leader of the coven, Eleazar and Carmen always seemed more like parents to the sisters than anything else. I couldn't help but think that the vegetarian lifestyle fit his gentle nature well.

"It's the way," Tanya started to the older vampires before she wasn't sure how much they'd be able to share with them.

Luckily Carmen was there to finish Tanya's question. "She still feels a pull to Charlie and isn't sure why."

"Oh," Eleazar and Carlisle both said almost in unison. I could tell that neither of them really knew either. Luckily I did, as I felt the same way towards Bella.

"He's your _la tua cantante_ ," I said softly. Even though she had never heard the phrase before, she was guessing what it meant and wasn't that far off. So I elaborated. "When Charlie was human, his blood 'sang' to you."

Tanya cut me off trying to explain herself, "But now he's a vampire. He doesn't have blood."

"He does, but it was never his blood that sang to you; it was his soul." Carlisle smiled at me. He knew that I finally was admitting that he was right all along; our kind still did possess souls, and it was up to us as to how light they would be. "Aro told me a few years ago that _la tua cantante_ was when a human's blood sings to us, but as I learned earlier from James about Alice, but didn't know at the time, that it was much more than that. Bella smelled simply irresistible to me, because I was drawn to some much deeper than just her blood. It was true that she smelled tempting to most other vampires when she was human, but to me there were no words to describe it. I heard your thoughts about Charlie; he smelled the same way to you."

"But Alice," Carlisle started but I interrupted him.

"Bella was going to be Alice's best friend," I said but that wasn't right. Best friends didn't go far enough. "The two of them are like sisters; that's why Bella smelled so good to her."

"I guess that makes sense," Eleazar said looking confused.

"I didn't know how Esme smelled to Carlisle when she was human, nor do I know how Emmett smelled to Rosalie, but I venture it was similar to the way Charlie smelled to you." Carlisle nodded to me. I could only assume he was confirming that indeed Esme smelled the same way I was describing to them when the two of them first met. "Why don't you try talking to him?" I asked softly to Tanya.

"What if he doesn't like me?" Tanya sounded way too scared of something that couldn't even be a possibility.

"Are you kidding me?" Carlisle asked sarcastically. "Charlie's absolutely smitten with you."

I nodded my affirmation. He was right, and now all Tanya needed was a little courage.


	15. The Love of My Life Well Existence

Chapter 15

The Love of My Life… Well Existence

(Charlie)

After Angela left the Cullens house an unpleasant odor took over my senses again. There it was again; that horrible wet dog smell which meant that Jacob was coming, but mixed with it was something that was absolutely perfect. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply through my nose to allow it to fill me. I couldn't describe it. It smelled close to human, but at the same time didn't. Mixed with the human fragrance was a scent that was clearly vampiric; honeysuckle and lilac among others. In addition I heard two thrumming hearts, one racing much faster than the other.

"Come on dad," Bella said softly to me as she pulled me inside. "Your granddaughter wants to meet you."

"Isn't it too soon?" I asked as Edward and most of the rest of the family came downstairs as well.

"We'll try it with Jacob first." Edward suggested as I kept my eyes closed to allow the scent of this new creature to wash over me. I didn't feel thirsty and this scent was so perfectly balanced that I would never want it in that way. Edward placed his hand on my right shoulder. I could only assume that he was impressed with how I was handling myself. "You're doing so well with all of this Charlie," Edward added as I sat in the large couch. "I have no doubt that you'll be okay."

I nodded smiling. My family had told me being a newborn would be hard, and I had been so on guard against losing control that I still can't believe that I've been this good. In reality, it had been a little hard but nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. "Renesmee?" I asked with an even larger smile on my face.

Bella's answering smile was even more wonderful than I had ever seen before. I could swear that I saw a rainbow that had an eight color reflected that I couldn't describe reflected on her teeth. She nodded at me and said at a whisper, "Renesmee, but first there's someone else who'd like to talk to you."

I expected it to be Jacob, but it wasn't him. It was a female vampire. _What would you call that, a vampiress? Eh who cares_ , I thought, but she was absolutely stunning. An absolute beauty that no one could compare to, not even Rosalie. She was about 5'6", her hair was gorgeous strawberry blonde, and it seemed that her scent was emanating from her hair. She smelled like fresh cut strawberries. I felt something in her drawing me closer to her, almost like I was caught in her gravity; I couldn't look away. It was as if I was looking into my destiny; a destiny that I never knew existed. We stopped with barely a foot in between us and just were lost staring into each other's eyes. I can't explain why what happened next did. I just couldn't stop myself. I grabbed her around her waist, leaned her over and our lips met in a kiss that showed exactly how much we both longed for each other. I couldn't stop myself when our kiss started, and even weirder, I didn't know how to stop when our lips met. We both fought for control of it, with both of us sinking even deeper into our kiss. I don't even know how long our lips were intertwined before finally Edward cleared his throat.

If I could have still blushed, I would have. I assaulted her; there is nothing else to call it. I wanted to run away in shame, taking two long strides before I realized that she was still next to me. But I still kept running wanting nothing more than to get away from her. Apparently she wanted nothing more than me either and I couldn't believe it. We both stopped in unison when we hit the edge of the forest and this time it was her who put her lips onto mine and kissed me as forcefully as I had her. Her lips were hard and firm showing nothing but passion and love, well maybe more lust than love, but I didn't care. I was hooked; she was my brand of heroin and I wanted her… forever.

"Come on," she whispered when we separated with large smiles on both of our faces, "Nessie's been waiting to see the new you for two days."

"Promise me that you won't let me do something stupid," I said with a chuckle as I grabbed her left hand. Simply touching her sent electricity through me, and I couldn't help but think about one of the songs I liked. I sang out softly, "You shouldn't kiss me like this unless you mean it like that. And if you do, baby kiss me again." My new singing voice was a mid tenor, and the words flowed like I had never heard before, not even in a fully produced album. Then Tanya did exactly what I wanted her to do; we kissed longer and deeper than before.

Pulling away one more time, she led me by the hand back inside. By now Jacob was sitting on the couch next to Renesmee and I couldn't stop from seeing her. She was flawless, even better than Ness had looked to my human eyes. They couldn't do her justice. Her skin, just as pale as Bells's used to be with a dim lighting to it in the sunlight. Her eyes were mine; or I should say the eyes Bella and I used to have. She had my curls and her father's hair color. Just perfect. Edward smiled at me, then turned to Jacob.

"Freaky Charlie," Jacob laughed as he stood and walked closer to me. I shrugged. "But before I can let you get even closer to her, I wanna see how you handle me."

My glance turned between Jacob, Bella, and Edward, the latter of which simply nodded. I couldn't be sure if it was to me or Jacob, but either way Jacob walked slowly to me. I felt myself slip into a defensive crouch and a hiss came from between my teeth which shocked me even more. This was wrong, so wrong. Here I am growling at a kid I've known, well since he was born. Then a wave of calm hit me, and my posture slumped.

Jacob put his hands up palms out and kept coming closer. "Get a good whiff leach," he said with a laugh. Now it was Bella growling at him, much more terrifying than I had just done to him.

I felt back in control of myself and did as he said. I closed my eyes and sniffed, slowly at first but then growing deeper wrinkling my nose at the unpleasant scent. Yep, definitely wet dog. "Ugh, Jacob you really need a bath." The room erupted in laughter.

"Speak for yourself, bloodsucker." That was it. I had no desire to go after Jacob. Jacob nodded at Ness and she rose quickly and ran to my arms. Unlike when Jacob did it a minute ago, I didn't feel threatened. I breathed in deeply the scent of my granddaughter. Perfectly balanced and I had absolutely no issue with her despite hearing her heart and feeling her warmth.

"I love you grandpa," she said as she put her palm to my cheek. Entering my head was her and I out hunting again and then something else. Her view of her biting me so she'd have me around forever. "That's how much I love you." She gave me a kiss on the cheek immediately after pulling her hand away and I started gently stroking her hair.

I smiled widely, laughing, "You already know how much I love you."

"No," she said with a smile. "How much?"

I grinned. She knew exactly how much I did. "So much that I never want to lose you, and now I don't have to… ever." Ness buried her head into my side as we sat down on the couch with Bella next to Ness, Edward behind his girls, and my new best woman behind me. This was going to be easy and I had some serious help. For the first time, I knew what it was like to have a large family that I couldn't live without and thanks to them, I wouldn't have to. Forever was going to be great.

* * *

(Jacob)

Once I was sure that Charlie wouldn't hurt Ness, I felt it might be a good idea to let him get some alone time with his family. Edward and Bells would be there to stop him from doing anything stupid, and there was something about Charlie that made me think that he was gonna be as good with this new life as Bella was. I started walking out, but then turned to Ness. "I'll see ya tomorrow," I whispered smiling.

"We still going to the beach?" she asked with a small grin.

Bella looked pissed. I had asked Edward about it and reluctantly he said okay. His consent almost changed when Alice bought Ness the bathing suit she wanted. I still hadn't seen it, but I could only assume that it was something that he didn't approve of. I thought I knew what that meant. No matter how long Edward'd been, what do you call it… alive? I guess that's best. Yeah, no matter how long he'd been alive, his morals and values never would escape the nineteen-teens.  
Edward finally, after and awkward minute, nodded his eyes only. "It'll be okay, love," he said to Bella, wrapping his right arm around her waist.

"This isn't like… a date is it?" Bella wasn't ready for this, of that I knew. "She's still too young for that."

"Mom," Ness moaned, stretching the word in protest.

I laughed. My sisters were just like that when they had their first dates, but it was my dad who was that way. Edward had to know my intentions were still seeing her as my best friend. I had told Bella all of this a few years ago after telling her that Quil had imprinted with a two year old Claire. She was seven now, and still Quil went from being her best friend to big brother. Absolutely nothing romantic between them... yet. I saw the way he looked at her every time we were both wolves, and I found it easier to do the same with Nessie.

Bella must have started to relent as she looked right at Alice. "Alice," there must had been some unspoken questions between the two of them, because no sooner had she said that did Alice answer her.

One word only was Alice's reply. "Perfect."

Bella sighed almost dejected. "Alright," she answered giving in but then turned on me. She blurred to me, her nose less than four inches from mine, staring right into my eyes like a predator staring into the eyes of its prey. "But if you do anything inappropriate, I'm gonna bite you." Then she snapped her teeth closed even closer to my nose. The snap of her teeth sounded more like a bear trap than a mouth.

I didn't expect what happened next; Edward started laughing. He flittered to Bella and pulled her away from me.

"Overreact much?" I quipped when Edward had her restrained a little. By now the mood in the room had relaxed and I couldn't be sure if it was natural or Jasper had something to do with it. There was a surrounding chorus of laughter that ranged from Emmett's huge guffaws to the peeling bells from Alice and Esme, to faint chuckles from Jasper.

Bella shook her head, and I thought that it might be a good idea to just leave. "Tomorrow," I whispered to Ness and I kissed my index finger and poked her on the tip of her nose. This was the way the two of us kissed to not piss off Bella. Edward caught me one time giving her a peck on the cheek, and growled a little, but he let it go after we didn't do anything other than that. Bella on the other hand, nearly lunged at me until Ness got between us. I was hers as surely as Ness was mine.

I walked outside and it had started to drizzle again. Crap, I had only brought my motorcycle. Oh well, might as well stretch out all four of my legs. I ran into the garage and started undressing. Esme had bought an old 'armoire' that she refinished for me. She nearly growled at me when I called it a dresser the first time I saw it. I neatly put my clothes in the drawers knowing that by the next time I came back someone would run them through the wash. I went behind the garage and phased but no sooner had I gone wolf that I heard a voice in my head that I hated.

"Jake," the girl's voice plead. "Jake is that you?"

I groaned when I knew who it was. "What do you want Leah?" I answered in my thoughts. I hated when I had to listen to her thoughts, but then I realized what she wanted.

"I need your help Jake. I found someone."

"Arg," I groaned again. Being an alpha was a pain, but I could turn down my beta's pleas for help. Then I listened to her thoughts again and couldn't believe what had happened. "Are you sure?"

"I'm standing right next to him. He can't phase back and I don't even have a clue how to help him."

"Hey newbie," I chuckled but couldn't hear anything from him. This wasn't good. "Can you talk to him?"

"Yeah I think so, but I can't answer really. I really gotta concentrate because all he can talk in is wolf."

"I'll talk to the guys and Sam and get someone there to help you. Where are you anyway?"

"Just outside of Spokane… I think. I met this guy at WSU and we kind of hit it off, then when he left I felt this new wolf I didn't know. We've been running north ever since and I'm trying to keep him outta trouble."

I was entering La Push and howled looking for Sam. No response; he wasn't wolf. That's when I remembered that Emily was due any day. Maybe she had gone into labor. If that was the case, he wouldn't answer, but still his beta should be looking out for him. I decided my best bet was to go home and dress and look for him human. I was surprised when I got home and saw his gamma using the terminology that Bella invented was there waiting for me. I invited Collin in and I brought two cans of soda from the fridge and we sat on the couch. "What's up?" He asked.

"Where's Sam?"

"At the hospital. Something went wrong, and Em's in a bad way."

His words hit me like a cement truck. Despite the friendly rivalry we had, I never wanted to see Sam hurt like he would be if he lost Emily. I decided to ask him, since as the highest ranking member of the pack available, he had some pull. "I need some help… err, Leah does actually."

Collin rolled his eyes. He didn't really like Leah because of what she did to his alpha, making him feel the pain of dumping her every day when there was only one pack. "It's not like that. She found a new wolf and doesn't know how to help him phase back. And apparently he can only hear Leah."

"I'll go," he said completely willing. "Where is she?"

"Spokane. She was looking at colleges and I guess stumbled on him."

"I'll leave tonight, but gimme her cell or something. And tell her to listen for my howl. Let me know where she goes too."

"I'd take your passport just in case they keep going north and end up in Canada."

"Good call," Collin said patting me on the back. "I'll go pack a bag and swing by and see Sam to let him know what's up." Then a thought crossed Colin's head and I kinda had the same idea.

"I don't know it Carlisle'd ever done OB/GYN," I said, "but you're right. I'll give them a call and see if he can come." I knew he would.

* * *

 **AN:** So who do you think the new wolf is? Thanks for R/R.


	16. Unforeseen

Chapter 16

Unforeseen

(Jacob)

Nessie and I were at the beach, enjoying an early October day that was unusually warm for the Olympic Peninsula. It still surprised me how comfortable in the human world that she was. She had a gift that allowed her to make people like her with no effort. But still there was one human staring at us; one of the few palefaces at the beach today.

She was a young lady, maybe early twenties and I knew that I had seen her a couple of times. Her scent was strangely familiar as well; I had recently smelled it. I just couldn't remember when.

After about five minutes of staring, she finally came to talk to us. Nessie and I were wading into the water about twenty feet in. She cleared her throat and began to speak, but I could tell she was nervous. That when Nessie began to talk to her.

"Hi," my darling Renesmee said with a friendly dimpled smile. With that simple act, this lady was as helpless as anyone else would have been to her. "I know you from somewhere," Nessie added still with a welcoming smile on her face.

"You look like-" the woman started but still couldn't exactly place her. That's when she turned to me with a look of remembrance on her. "You're Jacob Black, aren't you?"

My mouth hung low and a shutter ran through my arm as the instinct to defend myself hit, but this was a human girl, not a threat. "Yeah?" I answered as Nessie grabbed my right hand to calm me, and just like that I was; completely calm.

"That's what I thought. You haven't changed at all since I saw you and Bella just before we graduated." She smiled still warmly at us before she added, "I'm Angela; one of Bella's friends."

"Oh," I began to turn red from embarrassment. How could I have forgotten her? She was pretty good looking, pretty tall for a girl and I could tell that she had a pure heart much like Bella did. "Yeah, sorry. This is my imp-… err, girlfriend Nessie." I had to stop myself from calling Renesmee what she really was to me and it hurt to use such a transitory word like girlfriend but to humans it was the right word to use.

The three of us had returned to the beach and were talking when I heard a commanding howl coming from the forest just off the beach. Even though it was Sam, I knew that what he wanted was extremely important so I decided to join them. I said goodbye to Renesmee and began to leave her. "Try and have some fun with Angela. She's one of you mom's friends, but she can't know that she's your mom. You look way too old for that," I said as I walked away with her for a minute stressing the 'way'.

Nessie hugged me and sat on a towel, waving for Angela to join her, which she did. As soon as I was into the forest I phased, not caring about what happened to the old sweat shorts I wore for swim trunks. As soon as I was wolf, I issued the command for Seth, Embry, and Quil to join me. Leah was away looking at colleges and found the new wolf. I was glad; I knew how much she disliked the whole wolf thing, and it made me relieved that she was trying to have a somewhat normal life now that she had learned to control her temper.

My pack assembled quickly. The two packs had split, fairly even numbers as far as I was concerned. I had my five… well four still in La Push plus Leah when she was here, while Sam had twelve. Many of the younger ones relied on Sam to learn to control themselves, so I wasn't upset when the young ones chose to stay with him. We had arranged it so once the young ones learned basic control, they would be able to choose which pack they wanted to belong to; almost all chose Sam, except my friends.

"What's up?" I asked Sam as the three others of my pack met in the clearing where six of his were.

"Fresh trail," Brady said through Sam. It still was weird, hearing someone else's thoughts through an intermediary, but I could only imagine what it was like for the others in my pack to get stuff third-hand.

"Do you recognize it?" I asked again trying to figure out exactly what was going on. By now the sun had begun to set, and it was dusk. It wouldn't be long before the bloodsucker would hunt if it was thirsty and I didn't think that this leech was like the Cullens.

The ten of us began to seek out this trespasser. We were horrified when we crossed it about five minutes later.

The girl I had met on the beach was on the ground writhing in pain and I could clearly see a set of teeth marks on her left arm and neck. Nessie had taken up a defensive position in front of Angela. My best guess was that Angela had went to the bathroom and the bloodsucker probably caught her as she was out of sight of anyone. I assumed that Nessie had smelled the blood and came to help Angela. But now this brought another issue to the forefront.

Even if Angela did survive, we couldn't be sure of what she would become. Luckily the beach was abandoned by palefaces, so there was no issue with others finding out but still if Angela survived the change, then would she be like the Cullens or would she be like the others. And then there was the issue that she had survived a vampire attack. Surely the Italian leeches would have something to say about that. In the end we only had one option at the current time; destroy the bloodsucker. We could deal with Angela later.

Just then the smell of other bloodsuckers came into the night. Some of the younger wolves began to form a line to protect our flanks, with growls and snarls coming from them but after a second Seth and I recognized them; it was Edward and Bella.

"Cool it guys!" Sam commanded in his alpha voice knowing who it was and that they were there to help us. The two friendly vamps (man that still seemed wrong to think but it was true in their case) stood in front of their daughter to protect her. At first they didn't notice Angela but when Doctor Fang came into view, she was his first concern.

"Oh no!" He whispered, but it showed much more concern that that. I knew that Carlisle was horrified by what he saw. He knew many of the families in and around Forks from his time there and couldn't stand that this had happened to any of them. The doc began to try and comfort Angela by stroking her hair and talking gently to her, explaining what had happened to her.

We, aided by Edward and Bella began to tear apart the vampire, but we took care to make sure that we saved the head. Alice had not seen any sign of a nomad coming through, or she would have told us. It was possible that the leech coming to the Rez was a part of it since the fortune teller couldn't see many of our futures. Alice had been able to see glimpses of Nessie and me, but that was only because she was becoming more and more in tune with us. In fact she had seen us getting married, but couldn't see anything further than that.

"Who sent you?" Edward snapped at the head. We had taken care not to destroy any of the pieces as of yet but we did have them scattered around the beach.

A deafening roar came from the tattered vampire's remains as defiantly he refused to answer.

Jasper entered the cleaning at that moment. If there was one member of the Cullen family that scared the hell out of me, it was him. With all the scars that covered him and the usual gift he had to alter moods, he could make you feel no fear as he began to rip you to shreds. He was there for something I wasn't ready for… torture.

"You will talk," Jasper drawled with a sinister grin on his face. He looked like he welcomed this; as if it was something that he hadn't been able to do in a long time. We all knew that Jasper had experience with newborns and also with killing vamps, but this was something far more important.

"Like hell I will!" The intruder snarled which only seemed to make Jasper's smile even wider.

"Very well," Jasper said. His grin made my stomach literally turn. By now some of the wolves had begun to leave the beach. This would be something that even the toughest of the tough would have trouble watching with no reaction. There were only six of us left; myself, Sam, Seth, Embry, Quil, and Paul. All of us had taken a liking the most of the Cullens, but the blonde haired Jasper was always the hardest one to figure out. But still we were completely loyal to Bella and Renesmee because of me.

There was something about the way that Jasper looked at this stranger and the bloodsucker looked back at the blonde vamp. It was almost like he was putting the fear of god into someone who never believed that god really existed, until now. There was always something with Jasper; the scars covering him were meant to be a warning to other leeches, but I never realized that his ability also allowed him to terrify others until now.

Jasper darted over to where the vampire's left leg was laying on the ground and pulled out a zippo lighter. Opening the top and flicking the flint, a flame began to dance from the wick as he leaned down to the ground, holding the flame just inches from the leg. "Last chance," Jasper said coldly, completely devoid of emotion. He actually looked like a vampire; terrifying. The intruder still held his lips locked together, despite the fact that I could smell the fear coming from him as Jasper held the flame to the leg and it ignited in a tower of fire more than six feet high. We had doused the parts in gasoline to prepare for burning him, but were stopped by Edward. Interrogating him was a good idea, no matter how much I wish we would have just killed him. "Still want to be silent?" Jasper asked with a horrible chuckle. He was enjoying this.

Jasper darted to the vampire's right arm, preparing to set it ablaze, but was stopped by the pleas.

"No! Don't!" The bloodsucker pleaded but in the end it wouldn't do any good. We were going to burn him anyway; it would just be more helpful to get info from him on why he came here.

Edward gasped at the thoughts her heard from the nomad. "Not good," he whispered upon hearing whatever it was. He turned to Angela who had settled down in the arms of Carlisle, but was still in pain. She whimpered out, "It hurts," every few seconds, which was accompanied by Carlisle running his fingers along her head to calm her.

"What is it?" Bella asked to her husband. That term still didn't seem to fully apply to what they were; they were more than husband and wife, more than just mates. If vampires could imprint, then that would be a better description for the two of them.

"The Volturi," Edward whispered. We all understood. This bastard was sent by the Italian scum to spy on us or the Cullens for god only know what reason. Then when examining his clothes, Jasper found something that scared all of them. "It looks like Aro's been busy."

Bella's eyes got really wide in horror, followed by a growl from her. She snarled right at this piece of crap, a few inches from his face. First time I ever thought she really looked like a vamp.

Almost as if Edward knew that some of us wouldn't understand, he started questioning the leech.

Jasper started searching the body of the bloodsucker. Hidden under the leech's shirt on his torso was a gold necklace. The thing had to weigh pounds, and it was clear that it was solid gold; super expensive. The medallion was in the shape of a 'V' and had a coat of arms in it, in addition to a couple of rubies. This apparently meant something to Edward and Carlisle more than anyone else.

"How many?" Edward snarled at the condemned bloodsucker.

"About ten," the prisoner answered.

Edward elaborated more to Bella, "Ten new, not counting the twelve they have already. Are any of them gifted?"

The prick actually thought it was a good idea to spit at Edward's face; big mistake. "Jasper?"

On cue, Jasper flicked that lighter casually and ignited his right arm. The flames shot up as high as when his leg was burned.

The leech must of thought the answer because Edward gasped. "A shield breaker," he said looking right at Bella. We all knew what that meant; Bella would be as helpless against Jane and Alec as the rest of us.

"He was a member of the guard," Edward said just above a whisper to all of us supernaturals on the beach. An understanding gasp came from Carlisle and Bella.

"Was?" The unknown vampire said, afraid of my friends and family for the first time.

Edward nodded at Sam and almost immediately the pieces were gathered into one large pile and Jasper set them all on fire. One last pained scream came from the intruder and them there was only the sound of his burning.

"This isn't good," Bella said realizing what would happen soon. "There's only one law more absolute than secrecy and that's the murder of one of the Volturi, no matter the reason.

"Bring 'em on!" Seth crowed. "We can take 'em."

Jasper smiled at the confidence of the young werewolf. In truth they were right; a physical fight with the Volturi was possible to win with Bella forcing them to fight hand to hand, but if something should happen to Bella then our advantage would fade fast.

* * *

(Bella)

With the death of the piece of crap who came to hurt my friends, I was able to turn my attention to Angela. I wanted this for her; no I didn't want it this way, but I wanted to be able to tell her the truth about my family and let her make her own choice just like my dad had been able to. But now a vampire bit her, and there was no other option. Just like my dad, she would have to choose between becoming one of us or being killed to stop the pain. But there was something different in her case; Ben. Charlie might had found his true mate in Tanya, but I was certain that Ben was Angela's soulmate. It was hard, but I had to think of what happened to Edward when he thought I was dead. He wanted to kill himself rather than live without me. Could I really force Ben into that situation? No I couldn't. I had to break one of the most absolute vampire laws of all. He had to know the truth, consequences be damned.

This was going to be tricky. Either I could go to Washington State or I'd have to convince Ben to come back here without letting him see Angela as she was now. But as I thought of that problem, it led to another; what about Angela's family? Charlie handled the truth so well; would Angela's parents, her brothers? I was getting way ahead of myself. Telling them now was simply too risky. In the end, Jasper and the packs were right. There was only one option. The Volturi had to be overthrown; vampires had to have the chance to tell those they loved the truth and hope that the loved ones would keep the secret. This wasn't just for Angela, but for my mom too. She hadn't seen me since my wedding; Renee didn't even know she had a granddaughter. I kept trying to convince Edward to let me send her pictures, but he wouldn't let me. He was right; it was just too dangerous. Renee would want to see her, and that wouldn't be good. Renesmee looked like a teenager and had too much of Charlie in her for mom to believe she was adopted. So, in the end, there was only one path.

Angela's shriek was the loudest one yet and was accompanied by her back almost being bent in two. I heard an ear splitting crack, at least to my vampire hearing, followed by her lower body going limp. "Her spine!" I yelled horrified for what happened.

"She'll be alright Bella," Carlisle said still perfectly calm. "The venom just reached her heart. That's the most painful part of the transformation until the very end. But that was the most violent reaction to it I have even seen." Carlisle frowned, which looked wrong for his beautiful face. "She needs us all to get through this."

"What if I sucked the venom out like Edward did for me?"

Carlisle shook his head. "It's too late. Once the venom reaches the heart, there's only two options; vampire life or death." This wasn't a choice I could make for her.

Before I was able to ask Angela, Sam stared snarling and growling at her quivering and crying body being tended to by Carlisle. I could only guess that he figured that she had to be killed before the transformation could proceed. It was risky, I knew that, for someone who didn't choose this life to be a newborn. While myself and Charlie had been in control of ourselves, there were countless stories of newborns who didn't. Entire cities had been destroyed. But Edward knew that I would be myself, so wouldn't Ang? My best friend would do whatever it took to be a good person. I had to trust that.

Seth phased back to human and stood in front of Carlisle and Angela. Yet another thing that I could never thank him enough for. I smiled at his help; no wolf would intentionally strike someone under another wolf's protection. No matter what, it would lead to a fight that wouldn't stop until one side was completely eliminated.

Jacob must have been able to talk Sam into backing off. He trusted us, and I still couldn't thank him enough. He and Renesmee; I smiled at the thought for one of the first times. She could do worse. We'd need all of the packs help to defeat the Volturi, and this time it would be a fight. I had to train; my shield needed to be even more powerful. Kate and Garret would be here in the morning to help me practice. And then there was the fact that Eleazar was certain that dad would be gifted. Maybe they could help him too. Another shield would be great. But they seemed to think his gift was more offensive. If that was true, then we could do it. The Volturi might fall.

Carlisle was still attending to Angela, closely examining her injuries in addition to the bites. She didn't look good.

"Her right arm is shattered, radius and ulna in addition to her right shoulder being completely dislocated," Carlisle said softly running his soft fingers along her exposed skin, which seemed to relieve some of the pain.

"Can't you do something?" I pled for my best human friend. "Give her something?"

Carlisle shook his head, as he started to manipulate her arm. "I can't administer any narcotics. Do you remember what happened when you had venom and morphine?" I did. The painkiller didn't do any good, and only served to paralyze me. "I am going to try and reduce her arm, but I will need extra help to do it." There were two wolves back in their human forms plus myself and Edward over next to them to help in any way possible.

Carlisle pulled and twisted on her arm, using only the upper part, not trying to further damage Angela's radius and ulna. There was the sound of sickening cracks and pops as the ball slipped back into the socket accompanied by shrieks of agony from Angela. If I could still get sick, I would have. After about five seconds of Carlisle working, Angela's screams quieted into whimpers.

I tried to sooth Angela, putting my hands gently on her shoulder as Carlisle worked quickly to fasten a splint to her arm. After finishing on her arm, Carlisle went back to her head, gently running his fingers through her hair while he was thinking about something. Then it hit me; Carlisle had never asked Angela what she wanted.

"Ang?" I said gently into her ear. Her answering cries of pain made me remember when James had stomped on my leg, breaking it. "I can stop the pain, but it might kill you." I felt the beginning of tears in my eyes, even though that was impossible anymore.

Edward looked at me concerned, while Carlisle shook his head. "Bella, it's too late," Carlisle corrected sounding worried. He turned to Angela, realizing that he had never asked her to make her choice. "Angela, we can stop it but it will cost you your life, but if you decide to let it run its course, the pain will end in a few days and you'll have eternity."

Angela still whimpered in pain and I couldn't help to feel guilty. I knew what she wanted and that was Ben. Assuming she decided to endure the pain, I had to tell Ben immediately. Angela cried for me and I gently rubbed the back of her left hand. "I'm here Ang."

"Bella, I can't do it," she whimpered, tears filling her eyes.

I knew she could, but needed a lot of help through the beginning. "You can. Just stay with me. It's three days of hell, but then you won't feel pain again." I knew I was only speaking of the physical; she'd have a ton of emotional pain, but that didn't matter right now.

My words seemed to calm Angela and she agreed to endure the transformation. "Stay with me. Please," she cried again.

"I promise," I answered even thought I knew that I couldn't. I still had to tell Ben the truth, which meant that I'd have to leave as soon as I got home. Carlisle gently picked her up and carried her to the Mercedes. I stayed right beside her and her head rested on my lap as I tried to comfort her on the ride to the Cullen's.

I still hadn't told them what I'd need to do as soon as we got her comfortable. I had to leave, and it needed to be ASAP.

* * *

 **AN** : There it is. Chapter 16. What do you all think. Please review and thanks for reading.


	17. Complications

Chapter 17

Complications

(Bella)

This was bad. Not only had we now picked a fight with the Volturi for creating a newborn in Charlie, which while technically not our fault since someone else had bit him first and all we did was speed it up so he wouldn't suffer, but now we had killed a member of their guard. Now, on top of that, we would have another newborn in Angela.

Angela; that brought up another issue. It wasn't fair to Ben to make him think that Angela was dead. I couldn't make him go through what I did when Edward left me, and even worse what Edward went through when he thought I was dead. It would destroy him. I only had one option, despite what Jasper and Rose thought. They had been the loudest voices in favor of the 'Angela died in an accident' plot. It wasn't fair to her parents either; they'd have to be told too.

"Knock, knock," Alice sang as she knocked on the door of Edward's room in the Cullen's house.

"Hey Alice," I smiled back as she entered. Alice all but danced into the room. She was just so light on her feet, even for a vampire.

"Where are the boys?" She asked despite the fact that she knew exactly where Edward, Charlie, and Jacob were and that was out with Renesmee.

"Out hunting." I sat on the bed and couldn't believe how guilty I felt for having to leave now. If everything went well, then I'd be bringing Ben back to learn everything. "But you knew that already, didn't you?" I laughed.

Alice frowned. "I suck at small talk, so I'm just gonna say it. Why do I see you going to see Ben?"

"Because he's gotta know that Ang is okay." Alice smiled guiltily as well. I should of known that she'd understand. "Was there anything else?"

"Why do I see you biting him?"

It had been an idle thought and nothing other than that. But in the end I knew that me biting a human was a very bad idea. Still, I hadn't completely given up on the idea. "You saw me changing him?"

"No," she answered almost chiding, "I saw you kill him. Bella, you're still too young to change him."

"But Charlie-"

"Charlie was different," she interrupted. "First, he was your father. Second, he already had some venom in his system that made his blood not as… well delicious. If you bite someone who is still completely human, I don't see you stopping until it's too late."

"I was afraid of that," I said now knowing that me biting Ben was out of the question, but still he had to see Angela now. "What do you think about me telling him about Angela? About us?"

She looked at me sympathetically. I should have known that she be on my side on this one because she really liked Angela too and like with me, in her crazy little head she had to of already spent hundreds of hours with her. And Angela was a lot like me, just as comfortable listening to someone as she was talking which was perfect for a little chatterbox like Alice. "I think you're right about that, but please Bella, don't try to change Ben yourself. We don't need any more trouble with the Volturi right now. Telling Ben is gonna be bad enough, but another newborn would be too much."

I wanted to change the subject; it had been more than twelve hours since Angela was bitten, and unlike me who was incapacitated and Charlie who was almost at peace after he was bitten, Angela hadn't been able to stop screaming and crying in pain from the burning she was going through. I understood now what Edward and Rosalie had told me about their transformations and how painful they could be when one wasn't being held in the arms of someone who loved them. "We're in trouble with the Volturi?" I asked trying to sound surprised.

"Bella, not only do we have two newborns and you are about to break the most absolute of all vampire laws. And even worse, we've killed a member of their guard. That's something they can't let go unanswered."

"When?" I asked in reply. I knew that this time we couldn't count on any real help from our allies who helped us with Renesmee, well other than the Denalis. Because of Tanya's new connection to Charlie, they would be forced to help us. There still was the chance to get help from some of our friends, but there was no way to know exactly who.

"The exact timing hasn't been decided yet. Aro is trying to round up as many witnesses as he can, but he's been having issues. Too many remember what happened a few years ago, so he's calling in as many favors as he can to get the few he has so far. Our most recent 'transgression' might urge more to come." She stressed 'transgression' in air quotes.

This was a good thing, I had to tell myself. Aro couldn't have another failure like he did last time, so there would be no reasoning with him. I knew that he had the final say about any action that the guard undertook, so it was his fault that my dad and Angela had been bitten. This was a grudge that I wouldn't be able to let go. He'd pay for it with his life.

"What do you think about your dad and Tanya?" Alice asked looking nervous.

I had to assume that she'd seen more than I already know. Could she have possibly already seen them get married? "It's really none of my business," I said sounding so disinterested that it had to be a lie. Renee had gotten her happiness after all, so shouldn't Charlie too?

"That's not what I asked," she said frowning. "I don't think he cares about your permission. I'm asking you what you think about it; just your opinion."

"It'll be kinda weird calling someone who used to hit on my husband god only knows how long ago my stepmom, but Charlie deserves to be happy."

Alice smiled, her perfect smile. "That's great."

"Oh crap," I groaned. "You've already seen them get married, haven't you?"

Alice smiled timidly. "Charlie's about to propose. I don't think he's gonna last more than a few weeks."

I sighed. He could do a whole lot worse than Tanya, and she'd help keep him out of trouble. Alaska wasn't all that far away, but would still be far enough where we wouldn't have to worry about anyone from around here seeing him.

"Can you do me a favor?" I asked softly to Alice as we walked to the garage.

"Anything."

"Help Angela through it. I've gotta go talk to Ben. I'm gonna try and bring him back before she wakes up." I knew that for Ben to be within a thousand yards after Angela woke up would be way too dangerous. If Edward was right about a vampire's true singer being their soulmate, then surely Ben would sing to Angela. I didn't know if she'd be able to control herself. She didn't choose this life unlike Charlie and I did.

"Of course," Alice said with a sad smile on her face. I knew that the two of them were friends as well. I don't know why I even felt the need to ask Alice about this.

"Can you still see Ben," but my voice failed me before I could finish.

She smiled, a small nervous smile. "Yes, but it's still very faint meaning that it is the most likely scenario. But it is no guarantee."

"You were sure about me and Charlie."

"That was only after the two of you had made up your minds. Bella, I knew after the whole thing in Phoenix how bad you wanted this life, how bad you wanted Edward for eternity. I can't say I blame you."

"And Charlie?"

"Charlie understood the risk he took when he let us tell him about us. That made him willing. The added benefits of having you and Ness forever, plus what he hoped would develop with Tanya was just icing on the cake. Even before that, when Jacob told him that you had to change and might have to leave, he vowed to do whatever it took to stay in your life. In the end, vampire life was his only real choice for that."

"So how will Angie do with all of this?"

She had to know what I meant because she frowned and her eyes dropped. "About normal for us. She'll slip a couple of times, but should be okay within a few months."

"Can you see who?" Alice had to know what I meant; I was asking who Angela would kill.

Yet again, Alice shook her head. "No, but we'll all help her. She has a good moral compass, but the thirst is just too much for many newborns. Think of it like an itch; eventually, you just have to scratch it."

I understood what she meant, since I nearly slipped a couple of times in my first year, even coming so close to biting a human one time on the reservation that Jacob actually had to phase in front of a few people; thank god he was able to stop me. But more than that, I knew talking about it more would only waste time that I needed to have to bring Ben back in the next day or so before he wouldn't be able to see her for a while. Still we needed something to tell her parents. The truth wasn't an option; not yet anyway. But maybe someday. "See ya." I whispered as I got in my Ferrari and proceeded to fly down the drive at almost sixty miles an hour.

The drive to Pullman took about four hours. I flew the whole way there; I don't think the speedometer dipped below 100 the entire way. Edward was right about the 'after' car; driving fast was a lot of fun.

It didn't take long once on Campus to find where Ben's dorm was. When I pulled into the guest parking lot and got out of the car, I was surprised to smell the distinct scent of wolf. I sniffed again, with my nose wrinkling form the unpleasant scent. Three of them; of that I was certain. I remembered that Leah was looking at WSU, among other colleges. Her scent was definite. I wasn't completely sure of the other two.

I walked to the door and it wasn't hard to get let into the supposedly secured area of the dorm. No sooner had I walked up and gave a friendly smile that one of the guys tried to hit on me and let me in. "Sorry," I crowed showing my left hand.

The boy frowned, whispering under his breath, "Some guys have all the luck."

I chuckled, "I'm actually here to see a friend of mine. Ben Cheney. You know him?"

"Yeah, he's been a little bit of a wreck actually. His girl was supposed to call him last night, but she didn't. Now she's not even answering her cell."

Damn, I really should have thought about that, but how would I explain what really happened. They don't make a 'Sorry but your fiancée just got attacked by a vampire' Hallmark card. I chuckled under my breath at that thought, but quickly suppressed it. "You know which room he's in?"

"241," he answered. "See ya," he waved as he headed out to wherever he was going.

On the side of the doorframe of Ben's room was a sign that said who his roommate was; I should of known it would have been Austin. But there it was again, the scent of three werewolves coming from just inside the door; the strongest scent I'd caught of them since I left Forks. I knocked softly, and heard the sound of shaking and panting, followed by a voice I wasn't expecting.

"You need to calm down." It was Leah. I couldn't believe it; she had found Ben, but why was she telling him to calm down.

Just then, Ben came up the stairs and was standing next to me. "Bella!" He cried from the excitement of seeing me. He hugged me softly and shivered at my touch. It had been a little while since I hunted and the scent of him sent a flame down my throat. But it was easy to ignore it; this was going to be the mate of my best friend. I had to resist for her. "Hey Ben," I smiled back.

Then he pulled back from me. I knew what he was seeing. My eyes, just like the rest of the Cullens, somewhere between honey gold and black. No longer my old chocolate brown. I could tell the wheels in his head were spinning.

"Come on in. Austin's gonna love seeing you." Ben unlocked the door, and I was surprised to see Leah with a hand on Austin's shoulder, trying to calm him from trembling. Then the scent hit me even harder than it had earlier. That's when I put it together; Austin had to be part Quileute. He was a shapeshifter just like Leah and the third wolf in the small room, Collin.

Ben had to know everything now. His roommate was a frickin' werewolf, who could snap at any time. I cringed remembering how Sam's one split second loss of control permanently scarred Emily. Angela had been attacked by a vampire and was going through the painful three day conversion that I suspected Ben would do too at some point. I kept wondering what my best bet here was. I never even dreamed that Austin would end up a wolf, but then I saw the way that Austin and Leah looked at each other. It was the same way that Jacob looked at Renesmee. Then I noticed something else.

"You didn't!" I snarled at Leah. Austin had a canine bite mark on his left hand.

"I couldn't control it," she said nervously, "we don't know why we imprint."

That wasn't what I was talking about, so I pointed at the bite.

Austin looked down at what I was pointing at. "Oh, that," he said as he slapped himself with his right hand. "That happened when I was a little kid. Yeah, me and dogs; we don't get along."

Collin laughed at the irony of him being a werewolf now. "Whatcha think our best bet is here," Collin asked to both me and Leah, "do we show him here or should we go home?"

"I can't take all of you guys," I said. That wasn't the only reason; I'd never get the stink of three wolves out of my car.

"Why don't I take Austin and whoever else," Ben said grabbing his keys, "and you take however many you can."

"I don't think that's such a good idea," I added. Ben being around Austin right now could be very bad if something caused him to lose his temper. "I think it'd be better if Leah drove one car and you rode with me."

Leah looked into my eyes and her eyes looked terrified. Barely any volume came out as she lips the words, "Not a chance parasite."

Austin looked confused at Leah. I had to assume he was wondering why Leah would call me that. This was why I wanted the three of them together; so Collin and Leah could explain everything to Austin on the ride, while Ben would be safely in the dark until we got back to Forks.

She was right though. I needed to hunt first. The nice thing about Pullman was that it was in the middle of nowhere. There were some forests around, and that meant wildlife. "Why don't the three of you have breakfast and we can leave after that."

"But it's Sunday. We've got class tomorrow," Ben protested.

"Trust me," Leah sighed with a small cuckle, "school's the least of your worries anymore."

I nodded. Thank goodness that it was going to be raining almost all the way back to Forks, so I wouldn't have to explain the whole 'sparkling' thing… not just yet anyway.

The three relented and went to a buffet just off campus. I insisted on treating, but explained I wasn't hungry. As soon as the four of them they piled into Ben's little Jetta, I took off running towards the south; first at human speed and later at my full sprint when I was sure no humans were around.

It didn't take me long to find a small heard of elk just south of town. I drained two of them within a minute, and felt almost full. I kept debating taking another, but decided against it. I'd be able to resist Ben during our ride back.

In the end, Collin agreed with my suggestion of how to get back. Ben rode with me in the Ferrari, while the other three crammed into Ben's Jetta. About five minutes out of town, when my speedometer creeped back over 100, I could tell that something was on Ben's mind. Another minute later he asked me, "Bella, why did Leah call you a 'parasite?"


	18. Shield Breaker

**AN:** Hello again to all my readers. I know its been longer than I'd like since the last update, but I've been busy over the last month. I should have some more time in the near future to write, and I have the outlines pretty much done for the next half dozen chapters. As always, I hope you all enjoy and please review. TTFN.

* * *

Chapter 18

Shield Breaker

(Edward)

This was bad. Alice's latest vision shown that an expeditionary force from Italy would be coming soon. Five members of the guard, including Jane, Alec, Demetri, in addition to two vampires I don't know. I focused on the vision again. We had two days at most; they'd be leaving on a private plane this evening. The orders coming direct from Caius, which was unusual. Aro normally gave the orders, while Caius and Marcus would follow suit.

But that wasn't the most disturbing thing. All of us were writhing on the ground under Jane's torture, even Bella. It made no sense; powers normally increased with time. Bella should be able to shield us even better than before. This would be something that I'd have to talk to Eleazar about. If it was a way that a vampire could neutralize a shield, this was horrible news for us.

As before, Eleazar and Carlisle were discussing what could be done about the Volturi vendetta against our families. As many times in the past, Carlisle could tell when something was bothering me. I still didn't understand it; I mean, I was the mind reader and he could read me like a book. I decided to let them know what was going on before I worried them even more.

"Eleazar," I started at which he looked up at me.

"Yes Edward?" His expression was soft and kind; the look that certainly made Carlisle find an instant comrade in him when they met in Volterra. The two of them were some of the very first vampires in history who actually valued all human life.

"Have you ever heard of someone who can penetrate a shield?"

The look on Eleazar's face turned into one as serious as anything I had seen from him in more than fifty years.

'A shield breaker,' he thought with a shrug. "I only thought that it was a theory," he spoke this part out loud for the benefit of Carlisle. "Every power has its antithesis, like Jane and Alec. But for one to be able to defy a shield, that would be very devastating for our families."

It wasn't hard for me to follow his thoughts. This was bad news. Bella would be helpless to stop Jane's torture. Eleazar didn't know if this would apply to Bella or not, but did that really matter; they'd be able to kill us all without a fight. But my thoughts still went to Charlie; maybe whatever gift he had would equalize the odds.

"Yes?" Eleazar asked seeing something on my mind.

I looked at Carlisle, who had to be putting the pieces together. We were doomed; maybe even more so than four years ago. Not only because of allowing Angela to change, but killing one of their guard. "What about Charlie? Could he even our chances?" Carlisle asked hopefully.

Yet again, a shrug from Eleazar. He honestly didn't know. "A vampire's gift materializes when it is needed the most. In fact, I've known some vampires who didn't develop their gifts until they were a few decades old."

"But you're sure that Charlie's will be offensive and similar to Jane?" I asked more for the benefit of Carlisle. I had seen through Alice some of the Volturi dead at Charlie's feet, with flames shooting from their heads, despite the fact that none of us held a torch.

Just then a pained scream came from the attic, which was where we were keeping Angela. Carlisle and I both felt incredibly guilty for her and I could empathize. Carlisle told me about my transformation; how I couldn't stop screaming and cursing the fire, and Rosalie couldn't bear to be around Angela with the suffering she was in. It just reminded Rose too much of her own transformation, so she and Emmitt went to Alaska. Angela was just screaming and crying; well more like whimpering. Esme hadn't left her side, and it showed in her eyes, not almost as black as pitch.

"You need to hunt, my dearest," Carlisle plead with Esme. "She'll need us to be at our strongest to help her resist." What went unsaid, but we all knew was that we needed to help her resist human blood. Not choosing this life and having her fiancé ripped away from her just might be too much and Angela might well become a true monster. We had taken a huge risk with letting the change proceed, but Alice's vision of both Angela and Ben was of them with golden eyes.

"I'll hunt when she does!" Esme snapped at Carlisle. This wasn't like her; she was always really gentle, but now she actually looked like a vampire.

"Please, mom," I begged trying to convince her. "Alice and I can keep her calm, and besides she's getting to the point that she'll remember this. We need to take advantage of the time."

Esme examined every inch of Angela's exposed skin. It had begun to turn harder; not quite as impermeable as our granite-like skin, but closer to that than human. It even had some of the prism-like effect on light like ours did.

About five minutes later, Esme finally relented but she always hated to hunt alone. Rose and Emmett went with her and the three headed towards the Olympic Range, where there had been reports of mountain lion attacks. That left Carlisle, Alice, and I with Angela. Carlisle began telling her softly what she was becoming, about what we all were. Alice wanted to tell Angela that she wouldn't have to give up Ben, and there was more to it than that. She was hiding something, even from me. When she started thinking about it, Alice started to translate the Polish National Anthem into Korean. But Alice let something slip. She thought about where Bella was, and that she was hopefully bringing Ben back. I just hoped she knew what she was doing. We didn't need even more trouble with the Volturi. We had seriously more than enough of that already.

"Ben!" Angela cried out for her love.

"He'll be here soon," I whispered softly into her ear as Carlisle tried as much as he could to comfort her.

'I've gotta say goodbye to him,' she thought. We had told her that she was changing, not dying but Carlisle did say that under the circumstances she would be unable to see Ben for a while. I hated that he had said that, but there was no other option at the current time. She could still see Ben until her change was complete, but after that it would be far too dangerous for them to be close. She didn't choose this life and that would probably result in her being like most newborns. She'd never forgive herself is she hurt Ben and it was doubtful that if indeed he was her true mate that the call of his blood more than any other would be too much for her.

"You will see him again, my dear Angela," Carlisle echoed my statement gently into her ear, while softly trying to sooth the back of her head. Carlisle felt absolutely horrible for Angela, despite the fact that Alice had seen this as a possibility, but she was unsure of exactly who would be changing Angela and possibly Ben in the future. I hoped it would have been an act of friendship or love, not the savage act of aggression that actually began Angela's transformation.

"Ben!" Angela whimpered again. "Please Ben, hurry."

(Ben)

This had been weird. Austin and I met this girl I recognized from La Push at the B-Dubs just off of campus like three nights ago, and then he disappeared for like two days. Then he comes back with her and a friend of hers last night and he looked like absolute hell. I mean, he had leaves and all sorts of nastiness in his hair, and god did he stink. Even after he took like an hour long shower, he still smelled like dog piss. I mean, I heard of people going on benders, but this seemed out of hand, not to mention completely out of character for Austin. He rarely drank anything; we would split a pitcher on occasion but that was it.

Then as I come back from dropping some books off at the library, here's Bella Swan, or I guess Cullen now, standing on the stairs looking just way too different from how I remembered her. After I invited her in, there was Austin still standing with the girl, Leah and her friend Collin. She said something about how he needed to calm down, but I didn't know what the hell she was talking about. Austin was about as mellow as it got, but his whole body was quivering now. But what still rang through my head was the last thing that Leah said to Bella. Before we went to breakfast. "Not a chance parasite."

Even after Bella did whatever she did while we attacked the buffet, which was a good description of what Austin, Collin, and Leah did to it, that sentence still rang in my head. Why the hell would she call Bella a parasite? Bella was my friend, well more Angela's, and kinda Austin's too. I wanted to ask Leah about it, but I didn't think that it was something that I should bring up in front of all of them.

Then there was something else when we got back. Bella was waiting in the common area of the dorm for us. The first thing I noticed was her eyes; weren't they like almost brown the last time I saw her and now they were almost gold. That seemed like an odd color for contacts. And then there was the way she sat. The word statuesque came to mind; she literally looked like a friggin' statue. I shrugged it off and went back to mine and Austin's room to pack an overnight bag.

Apparently something had been settled while Austin and I were upstairs, because Leah was sitting the driver's seat in my car, and already had the car running. Bella waved at me and said, "Ben, you're with me." I smiled a little and got into the passenger side. Man her ride was sick; a new Ferrari 488 Spider convertible. It only sucked that it was raining and we wouldn't be able to open the top up, and to see how fast this thing could really go. Oh well, I wasn't disappointed.

As soon as we were back on the highway, Bella opened the thing up even in the light rain. I mean we were flying. "Slow down Bella, you're gonna kill us."

Her response was so off. She laughed and went even faster. The speedo was creeping up even higher; we were going way too fast, now almost 120. "You scared?" She asked in a teasing tone.

My eyes got wide. There was something about her that changed a lot in the last few years. She actually looked a little scary now. "Not really, just don't wanna end up wrapped around a tree if we can help it," I lied. I didn't know if I was more scared about her hurting me herself or her getting in a wreck or something.

Bella sighed in frustration and whispered, "Damn it." I saw the wheels in her head turning. A minute later she asked, "What's on your mind Ben?"

I thought about it for a second then decided to just ask it. "Bella, why did Leah call you a parasite?"

Bella chuckled. Kind of an odd thing to do, all things considered. "Long story."

"Well we got like 8 hours," I said.

"Actually more like three. Wanna see how fast we can get back to Forks?" Yet again with that look that I saw on Edward's face in the past.

"Are you actually gonna answer my question?"

She sighed again, and even closed her eyes for a second. I was about to scream at her, but she must have seen why, there was a car that she managed to swerve out of the way of just before plowing into the back of it. "Bad blood between the Cullens and the Quileutes." She had a 'I really don't wanna talk about it' look on her face, but I couldn't let it go.

"I don't buy that. Why specifically?"

Yet again, a chuckle. "You really don't want to know."

"Does it involve why Angela didn't call last night?"

Bella closed her eyes for a second, and I started to reach for the wheel, but the smacked my arm. Man, she'd become really strong, but god was she cold. I was going to have a bruise from that, I knew it. And it hurt; Felt like I was just smacked by marble.

"Bella, could you keep your eyes on the road. I don't want to see how far you can get thrown from the seat." She didn't wear her seatbelt, so if we crashed it was a possibility. Yet again, the strangest reaction; she laughed.

Bella wrapped her right arm around my back, and for the first time I noticed something else. She felt like a rock; cold, hard, and a little rough. Her skin had just a little bit of grit to it, but also it was very gentle.

"Ben, have you ever heard any of the Quileute stories?"

It seemed like another odd question, but last Halloween, Austin had told me some old stories after the two of us left some lame bond fire and ghost stories that the student union was doing. The story of the 'cold ones'.

"A few," I said not trying to out Austin. "I mean it's tough not to hear some of them when your best friend's got some cousins on the Rez."

"That makes sense," she whispered. It was low, but I heard it. And then, the strangest thing came from her, a low hiss. Then Bella had a 'what the hell am I thinking' look on her face.

"What the hell was that?!" I shouted becoming scared of her for the first time. Something about the look on her face was just so off. She actually looked like she was going to kill me that the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

"Sorry," Bella said as she pulled into a McDonald's. She looked at the sky, which was showing some patches of blue before she asked, "Let's go for a walk?"

I started to unbuckle my seatbelt, but before I could she locked my right hand in an almost shackled-like hold. Her hand was cold, really cold but her skin had this odd smooth texture to it that felt so reassuring. "You gonna let me out of the car or what?"

Her look was so Bella; kind of naïve but also mischievous, like she was in on some kind of secret that she didn't know if she should share or not. It was a look she wore around Angela and I for a while after the Cullens returned during our senior year of high school.

"I need to tell you something first, but I really shouldn't."

"Does it involve Ang?" Duh, what else could it be about?

"How did you?" she started but she couldn't finish her sentence.

"What's really going on?"

This was really weird. She didn't move a muscle for almost a minute; it didn't even look like she was breathing. "Bella?" I asked as I waved my free hand in front of her face. "Earth to Bella?" And then the strangest response from her.

She growled at me and grabbed my hand again. It sounded like something that a lion or something would do, not one of my friends, while the grab felt like she was gonna crush my wrist. Then she released my hand, and in a move so quick I almost missed it, got out of the car and was standing almost five feet from the door. I undid my seatbelt and got out of the car. "What the hell?" I asked.

She took a deep breath, but looked like she was deciding something for herself. About ten seconds later, she nodded her head and gently took my right hand in her cold left and led me into the woods.

The walk into the forest wasn't that long; we were gone maybe twenty minutes, but she became more and more certain of what she wanted to tell me. I could see it on her face. But she wasn't quite ready to tell me. Not just yet. There was something else I saw during the walk. The faintest shimmer off of her skin when the light hit her; almost a prism like effect. Now it was my mind that was racing. What had happened to her in the last couple years that could have changed her this much? She looked more like Edward and his family than how she did before. But I wouldn't have to wait much longer to hear the story. One thing was certain; this was going to be one of those things where the truth would be stranger than fiction.

"You know, all of those stories are based in some truth," she said with a gentle look on her face. Her smile was warm even though her touch was ice cold. Bella was pulling me where she wanted to go. Man, was she strong now. "Have you ever heard the story of the cold ones?" She asked softly; friendly.

I couldn't speak. She knew what I knew. How is that even possible? I just nodded.

And yet again, she smiled gently. "As I've found out, most of the legends are based on at least some truth." Then came a pained look from her. "Unfortunately that one is a hundred percent real."

My eyes shot wide open, and my heart rate picked up from fear; the fight or flight instinct kicking in.

"Calm down, Ben," she whispered softly into my ear. Man did she smell absolutely incredible. "Remember how the tribal chief made the agreement with the cold ones because they weren't dangerous?"

I nodded, but still wasn't completely confident in this one. My heart began to slow.

"Well, we're… I mean all of the Cullens… were not really dangerous to humans, at least most of the time."  
I started to run, but she moved so fast that she was blocking me.

"Ben, I'm not going to hurt you," she said with giving me a soft hug. Her skin had suck an odd feeling to it, but damn it felt really good. "All of the Cullens are vampires," she finally admitted after another minute, "but we only feed on the blood of animals."

"That's… kinda…" how did I describe it? There was only one word I could think of, and I was sure that she'd think it way off. "Cool," I finished with an admiring smile. I knew that she meant that she was also a vampire. "But how does Ang fit into this?"

Bella dropped her head in shame. "She had come back to ask Alice and Esme to plan her… no you guy's wedding, and to ask me to be her maid of honor, which I instantly said yes to by the way, but the next day she went to First Beach and got attacked by another of our kind."

"Your kind?" I asked, but I think I understood what she meant.

"A vampire but not like us. Some still prey on humans; well most in fact, but Carlisle's convinced a few to also join us in at least trying to feed only on large animals. The vampire who bit Angela wasn't one of them. We were able to stop him from killing her, but unfortunately…"

"She's becoming a vampire too?" I asked. If the legends were true, then being bitten could change a human into a vampire. Could I be one?

Bella nodded. "And that's why you have to say goodbye to her for a little. New vampires can't control themselves normally. Charlie and I were the exceptions."

"Wait, your dad too?" I asked but it was yelled in shock and panic.

She nodded. "Carlisle found out that dad had cancer, so he gave him the choice to die or be changed. He chose change, and I don't think he could be happier," her sentence accented with a happy smile. "He found his true mate in another vampire we know who lives in Alaska."

I put the pieces together. "So change me," I all but begged.

She shook her head. "Some vampires have extra gifts. Like Edward can read minds and Alice can see the future."

"Wait Edward can read minds?!" I yelled in surprise. I wonder if in Mr. Goff's class our junior year when he threatened to ask out Angela and made me super jealous into making my move on her if he knew how I really felt about her but was too scared to ask because she was so much taller than me.

Bella nodded. "Alice told me before I came to find you that if I tried, I'd probably kill you. And anyway, we can't right now."

"But later?"

"Maybe. But you can't tell anyone anything about any of this. Well you can talk to Austin. I'm sure Leah's giving him the whole story about the bloodsuckers."

"Why would you call yourselves that?"

Yet again, she was deciding something.

"That's what all the Quileute wolves call us. And Austin…"

I remembered now. "Wolves that turned into men," I whispered recalling another detail of the story. "Wait! Austin's… a… werewolf?"

Bella nodded. "It was a little late for his first phase, what they call it when they turn into wolves, but something must have happened that set him off. Normally it's being around our kind that trigger it, but it had to be something else."

"I wonder if it was that girl, what's her name. Leah?" I whispered thinking but Bella heard me.

"When did you guys first meet her?"

"The day that he disappeared."

"Well, don't worry. Between Leah and her friends, they'll help him figure everything out."

My thoughts turned back to Ang. "Well, can I call her or something like that after?"

"I don't see a problem with that, but we'll ask Carlisle."

We had got back into the car, and Bella took off again. It seemed like another half hour when I looked up to see that we already had made it to Snoqualmie. We'd be in Tacoma in less than half an hour at this rate, and in Forks another. My mind raced as I thought was I could say to her. Then I thought of it. Auf Wiedersehen; arrivederci; until we see again, my love. But that would be later; now I just had like a million questions.


	19. Arrivederchi

**AN:** Hello again, everyone. It took two weeks to be happy with this chapter, but finally am so. I hope you all enjoy, and please remember to let me know what you think. TTFN and have a happy Halloween.

* * *

Chapter 19

Arrivederci

(Ben)

The ride to Forks was just way too fast; across the whole state in, I looked at my phone and gasped. We made it in only four hours? Wow. There was no way that the others would be here for at least another three hours, so it made sense to say my temporary goodbye to Angela first. Well, I doubt they were coming to the Cullens; it sounded Ike they were gonna go straight to La Push. Hopefully a few of the others would be there to explain what the hell was going on.

I couldn't stop asking questions of Bella, hoping that she'd explain everything about this world that until a few hours ago I thought was complete fiction. A ton of myths, with a few half-truths surrounded vampires. From being burnt in the sun, to garlic and silver being poisonous to them, and finally holy objects being able to kill them; it was so cool. I sat in the car patiently listening to the stories of how she found out what the Cullens really were and how she determined that it didn't matter to her. Funny, it didn't really matter to me either, at least with Edward and Alice; the other three I really didn't like all that much, although I always caught the vibe from Emmet that the blonde was the reason he didn't try.

We were just entering Port Angeles when I thought of one other question. "Hey Bella?"

Her smile was still as warm as ever. "What now?" She asked sounding still happy how well I was taking all of this.

"What'd you do when we went to breakfast?"

Yet another chuckle. "Well, I kinda had breakfast myself."

"What do you," but I started to mumble off. I wanted to know what they eat.

She looked so upset. How could my mind go straight to her killing someone? This was Bella. "Remember how I said that we normally aren't dangerous to humans?"

"You… didn't?" I gasped almost afraid of the answer. Did she honestly kill someone around Pullman?

"Of course not!" She snarled at me defensively. For the first time since she told me the truth, she actually looked like a vampire. "We mostly hunt large game. There are plenty of woods and whatnot around there. I found a couple of deer and even a bear."

Now I was curious. "What's it taste like?" Did a deer's blood taste like venison? Would a cow's taste like a burger? It was kind of fun to think about.

She shrugged. "Kinda tough to explain, but it's pretty good; at least the bear was."

It seemed like we had barely scratched the surface when Bella interrupted her latest answer with, "We're here," only for me to notice that we were in front of the huge white house I remembered from the graduation party and also their wedding, still in as spotless shape as the last time I saw it.

Bella led me in to the house, where I saw Edward sitting at the dining room table, and I assumed he was waiting apparently for me. He blurred to Bella's side and hugged her, picking her up in a twirl. I smiled looking at how much alike they seemed now and could only think that one day I'd like to be able to do that with Angela again.

Edward smiled at me gently, exposing his teeth just a little. It made me nervous, but I realized that if he was going to kill me, it would have happened a long time ago.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Ben; none of us will," he said still sporting his welcoming look. "And yes, one day you and Angela can be together again and perfectly so."

How the hell could he answer a question I could only think about?

"It's a talent," he answered my thoughts again, a knowing grin on his face. Bella looked pissed since she was only getting half of the conversation. "Did Bella explain about vampiric gifts?"

Bella looked embarrassed, like she could blush at any second. I didn't want to out her, but she had explained this. "Yeah, like her brain's kinda messed up and you can hear thoughts. Yada yada yada."

He chuckled again. "Did she say anything about Alice?"

As if on cue, Alice rushed down so fast that I didn't see her until her arms were around me. She looked guilty, almost like she would start crying at any second. "I'm so sorry," she whispered into my ear. "I wanted to tell you sooner, but I couldn't. Even still, you knowing is a little risky, but you have to now."

I understood what she meant and nodded. "Can I see her?" I asked as I felt my face drop into a small frown.

Edward must have known that I meant Angela, because no sooner had I finished saying that did he grab my left hand and slowly led me up the stairs. Angela was lying in a hospital type bed crying. She didn't look like the girl I loved anymore; she looked… well much more beautiful than before, but I still saw enough of her to realize it was still Ang underneath it all. And she smelled absolutely incredible. Instinctively, I started towards her, but her hand started to shoot out to grab me.

Edward stopped me before she could reach me. "Angela, you cannot grab him. He can touch you, if you feel in control of yourself enough that you won't hurt him."

"Ben," she whimpered, which made my heart sink. "You came."

"Can you control yourself?" Edward asked, sounding stern but still looking upset.

"Edward!" Bella gasped in what sounded like disappointment more than anything else.

"It's been almost two days, love. The thirst could be too much for her at any time."

"I wouldn't let her hurt him."

I smiled. Bella really was a good friend, even still. I still stepped a step closer and Edward yet again stopped me.

"Angela?" Edward asked again.

"I think… I'm okay," she said struggling through every word. Her voice sounded different too; no longer the soft voice I was familiar with, but somehow even more beautiful than before.

Bella rubbed her right hand on her head then helped her up to a sitting position. "We'll stop you if we need to," she whispered into her ear.

Angela opened her eyes for the first time since I saw what Bella had meant about the changes to her. The first thing I noticed was her eyes; they weren't the beautiful sweet milk chocolate brown that I had fell in love with. Now they were a very deep reddish brown, not quite the bright crimson that Bella had warned me about. I slowly moved closer to her to sit next to her. I wanted to touch her. "Are you okay?" I asked worried that this might be too much for her.

"Don't leave me?" She begged as she instinctively reached for me. She was strong now, hugging me so tightly that I couldn't breathe.

"Let go," Edward said, his voice velvet smooth which made it all the more threatening, which was followed by an animalistic snarl.

Angela gasped in horror. "Sorry," she tried to retreat, but I grabbed hold of her right hand before she could pull away.

"'S okay," I whispered to her and she smiled, which made me smile. Then her eyes dropped and she tried to push me away. "What's wrong?" I asked with tears filling my eyes.

"I can't do this," she cried as tears filled her eyes. "I can't say goodbye to you."

"It's not forever, you know?" I said holding her as tightly as I could. "Bella explained everything to me on the way here."

"But I can't ever see my parents or the twins again," she further explained and I understood. Then she screamed again. I wasn't sure if it was the pain of losing her family or the change.

In truth there was only one thing I couldn't give up and that was her. I really didn't care if I saw my folks again, as long as I had Ang, I didn't need anything else. Bella had said something about that on the way back, but begged me not to even think about it. She didn't really explain why, but I messed up and Edward looked pissed. He actually looked like he'd kill me; looked like a vampire.

"Maybe there's a way-" I started but quickly stopped myself. I couldn't even give her this hope, and I knew why. Her being a new vampire, man the word still sounded so off even in my head but so cool at the same time, would be hard enough. Then I found the best way to put it. "Ang, you remember when you came with me to my grandma's funeral?"

I could see her trying to pull the memory back, but Bella had explained that the pain of the change might be all she could think about. She even worried that Ang might not remember me, but I had been relieved when she did. "Not really," she answered.

It wasn't that long ago, maybe a year at most but I couldn't be mad at her for it. She was going through so much right now and it wasn't fair to pile on. "The preacher said that we think of 'goodbye' all wrong. It's never a permanent thing; just until we meet again. Arrivederci, Auf Weidersehen."

She smiled gently and hugged me again. This time we shared it until I could tell it was too much for her. Edward pulled me away from her while Bella held her back, but then she started snarling and growling. It sounded like an animal who was starved. She even started snapping her teeth closed which sounded like a bear trap. But before Bella could yell for help, Alice and Jasper had come into the room. Wasn't Jasper supposed to be at Dartmouth? Whatever, I was glad he was here now.

Jasper looked into Angela's eyes and instantly she calmed down as Bella soothed her. "It's okay," Bella kept whispering as she rubbed her hair.

"I don't… know… what happened to me," Angela cried out as she looked at me with guilty eyes.

"I was afraid of this," Jasper said at a barely audible whisper.

"What?" I asked still in Edward's arms which felt exactly like Bella's had on the ride here; shackles, unbreakable shackles. I always knew there was something different about Edward and his family; never would have guessed it was this though, not that it really mattered. Bella loved Edward, and Ang was her best… well human friend I guess I should say for now. For Ang, I would at least give them a fair chance and I found that I liked Alice a lot too. She just had this easygoing way about her.

Edward growled at me. "You're just like Bella. It doesn't matter," he snarled under his breath.

"Not really. You've been nothing but nice to me and Ang from the beginning of our… well friendship."

He couldn't speak. I wondered if he even knew how much Angela respected him, even forgiving him for leaving Bella at the beginning of our senior year since Bella had. I still held a little bit of a grudge, just because only Angela really saw how hurt Bella was and I couldn't bear to see how it affected Ang. I think she was as hurt as Bella was.

Edward looked… shocked. He was a mind reader; how was that possible? "You think of me as a friend?" He asked.

"Well… yeah," I answered a little worried how he might take it.

But to my relief, he smiled wrapping me into a one armed bro hug and even slapping me on the back. "Thank you," he whispered into my right ear.

I smiled back. But. Our moment was interrupted by his gasping, "Damn it!"

"What?"

Edward looked around the room, but he couldn't find whoever he was looking for. Then he simply said, "Esme," no louder than if she was standing there next to us.

"Yes Edward?" She answered him as she streaked into the room like a bullet. Man were they fast. That would be kinda cool if I could- stop it. You can't think of that right now.

Edward glanced at me then Bella for a second, but then focused on his mom. "I need you to take Ben home. We have some company coming, and while they're not thirsty at the moment smelling Ben might make them so."

Esme simply nodded and raced to my side. "Ready dear?" She asked me. She sounded like the sweetest mother in the world. I couldn't believe that Bella had said that she had killed more than fifty people after becoming a vampire. It must be way more difficult than I could even image; being a new vampire. But to help Angela, I'd do whatever I needed to. If that was staying away, I would or anything else.

I nodded but I needed to do something first. I went back to Ang, who was sitting on her bed, and gently ran my fingers through her hair. Apparently Jasper had calmed her down, and she was back in control of herself. "Angela, I love you," I said as I gently kissed her cheek quickly. I needed to do this, and then I could stay away for as long as I needed. But hopefully she could call. I knew only one thing; I couldn't live without her.

* * *

(Austin)

"So Austin," the other guy in the car who was introduced as Collin said, "how long ago… no that's not right. Do you know who your last ancestor was who lived on the reservation?"

I did thanks to a genealogy assignment my freshman year of high school. "My great-great-grandfather was Joseph Black."

I heard Collin gasped even, "Ephraim's father!"

"Who?" I asked.

"Before the current rise of the wolves, Ephraim Black was the last great wolf chief. During his reign was the last time that the leeches were a threat."

Leah had called someone that before. She used words like leeches, bloodsuckers, parasites, and a few other that I really shouldn't say. "Why do you call them that?"

"The Cullens? Leah asked while she was driving. I wished the two of us could have gotten to spend some time together before leaving Pullman, since I couldn't even describe the way I felt about her. It was as if the term 'soul mate' wasn't enough for how deeply I cared about her.

"Yeah," I answered. "I mean, Edward and Alice were nothing but good friends to me and my friends in school."

"Well, they're all vampires, you know?" The way Leah threw the word around so casually made me wonder what that had to do with me turning into a wolf. As soon as we got out of Pullman, they explained what had happened to me. The only thing they weren't sure of was why it took me so long to phase, as they called it, when I was around vampires so much earlier in my life. I could only guess that it was because every time I was around Edward and Alice, I was just so confident in them; that they weren't going to hurt any of us.

"So what," I answered back sounding defiant I hoped. "They're my friends."

"Were supposed to be enemies," Collin snorted. I thought I could see his arms start to vibrate. "It's our job to keep people safe from those reeking bloodsuckers."

"Can you stop with the slurs," I snapped back with a snarl. "I'm not going to get in the middle of this."

"Sorry Austin," Leah said sounding upset, "but you really don't have a choice."

"Yeah I do." This felt no different than when my parent said that I had to do something. I'd show them.

"You really don't," Collin said calming down as he stopped shaking. The reflection in the windshield looked like he was sorry. "Austin, this isn't something that can be turned on and off. Hopefully Sam and Jacob can explain."

"Explain what?"

A frustrated sigh came from Leah. There was just something about her when we first met and I was instantly taken with her. God I think I love her, but I just met her.

We got to La Push shortly after dark and we pulled into this really small house. I mean it was really small for the six of us that were there. Four of them were definitely Quileute, then there was a girl who looked about 13 or 14 with long brown curls, and then me. The three of the four Quileutes were huge, all of them over six feet and the fourth was older, confined to a wheelchair apparently.

"Hi Austin," the boy introduced to me as Jacob Black said.

"Hey," I said back tentatively. There was just so much going on it he last 48 hours I felt like my head would explode. "So can you tell me what the hell is going on?"

"Yes," the older man, Billy Black who was apparently related to me to some degree, said sounding confident. "We have some younger members of the tribe who have recently phased for the first time as well, so we have planned a bond fire for tomorrow night where we will explain all of the old legends of the tribe, some of which have affected you, my cousin."

"Why did you call me that?" This was getting way too weird.

"Because all of those with the ability to turn into wolves are related through one of our ancient chiefs, Taha Aki. But not only that, but we are also related through the father of the last great wolf chief, Joseph Black. He was my great-grandfather, and my son here," he said pointing at Jacob, "is named after his father."

The stories would have to wait, because the ringing of a phone interrupted Billy. I didn't think anything of it when he rose from his wheelchair and answered it, but the others all gasped. Hearing half of the conversation wasn't ideal, but I could make out small parts of the other end.

"Hello," Billy answered. A pause while someone on the other end spoke. "Yes Carlisle. How can we help you?"

Billy's eyes narrowed at what he was being told. I thought I caught enough. Alice lost sight of something. I had no idea what that meant. Then something about a visitor they weren't expecting.

"Do you need our help?"

Another pause.

"Very well. I'll send them." Another quick instruction from the phone. "Okay, him too. Goodbye, Carlisle."

"What is it?" The other boy, who was I was told was named Sam asked. Sam was just shorter than Jacob, but still towered over me by about four inches.

"Apparently some trouble at the Cullens' and they'd like our help. Jacob they'd like you to take Nessie with you immediately." Jacob nodded and looked at me and Billy shook his head. "No, they'd like Austin to stay with us for the time being until we can adequately train him."

"Train me for what?" I still didn't understand what the hell was going on.

"There'll be time for that. Leah?" Sam asked looking sad but relieved at her.

She nodded. "Come on Austin. Let's show you the ropes, newbie." A curious grin on her face. Man was she beautiful and I would do anything for her. We ran into the woods that surrounded the reservation, both of us removing our clothes as her body began to tremble. She looked even more beautiful and I couldn't believe that I felt this way about her but then in less than a few seconds stood a huge grey wolf in her place. Then we weren't alone any more.

"You need to get upset," Collin said still in a shabby pair of sweats.

"Why?" I asked but the wolf started to growl at me. How could I be so stupid? They explained all this but I didn't know how to do it; how to, what did they call it, phase? Then the wolf charged me and it was just instinct. I don't know how I did it, but I felt my body start vibrating; every cell of in my body. And then I felt it as my body shifted without me even thinking about it. I was on four legs and growling back at her, but no longer was in it fear but love; a desire to protect her, the gorgeous creature in front of me for whom I would do anything.

"Focus, Austin," I heard her voice say.

 _How the hell?_

"It's a little annoying, but effective," she answered with a laugh. "I can hear every thought you have and you can hear mine."

"Take him running Leah," Collin said still upright on two legs. "He won't be able to hear me yet. Apparently he can only hear you since you two imprinted."

"No way!" She gasped in her thoughts. "I imprinted?"

 _Imprinted?_

"I'll explain later, but he's right." She thought nuzzling my side. "We should go for a run."

And then she was gone; just a blur of grey fur. Man she was fast, it would take everything I had to keep up but I couldn't get beat by a girl.

"I heard that," she challenged back. "I hope you're ready to eat my dust."

Wow was she great. And I was so completely and hopelessly in love with her.

"Me too," Leah thought back as I heard her while chasing after her. I'd follow her anywhere.


	20. Death Warrant

Chapter 20

Death Warrant

(Jacob)

I still couldn't believe that the damn leech could have the gall to call Billy after all we'd given them in the the last few weeks. Apparently Alice lost sight of the Cullens and asked us to come help out. Naturally Ness would do anything for her family and I could understand that, but still I didn't know why they wanted Sam to come. But then something else crossed my mind; my dad walked. He hadn't walked for almost six years now, but yet as casually as ever he got out of his chair and answered the phone. What the hell was going on?

The smell was unbearable at the big house; way too sweet and too many bloodsuckers to be comfortable. Even human I had to hold my breath as much as possible but there were too many of them there so that almost every five seconds someone would move and stir the air up so their scent would hit me again. It made me wanna puke.

"What was it?" Ness asked Bella when we came into the living room. There were eight of them there; every one of the Cullens except Emmet and Jasper who were out sweeping the woods around the house. I brought Sam and Seth with me. That'd be enough backup if we needed it and between Sam and I we could alert everyone in La Push if we needed them. But then I smelled it.

Three vampires were coming back towards the house. By the scent, they were still more than a mile out, but it wouldn't take long for them to reach the house. Jasper and Emmet definitely in front, but then I smelled something else. Two that smelled bearable; not quite as good as Nessie, but tolerable. And then I heard their hearts beating rapidly, almost twice as fast as a normal human. I went to the windows of the third floor and caught sight of the five of them approaching from the south at a vampiric sprint. Emmet, Jasper, and I remembered the third after a minute, Huilen. Her nephew Nahuel was right behind her followed by another girl he clutched hands with.

She looked to be 17 or 18 in human years and was very pretty. She had vibrant red hair, not quite as bright as Victoria's had been but still a very deep auburn done up in a messy bun that didn't hide the natural curliness of it. She stood about five and a half feet tall and her eyes were a bright blue, reminding me of the sky on a clear day; something that was really rare on the Olympic Peninsula.

Then something else caught my attention; Huilen's eyes were no longer red, but now held a hint of gold in them. Apparently in the aftermath of seeing Carlisle, learning that another course was possible she must of adopted the same diet as the Cullens. I couldn't tell about the other two, because with half vamps the eyes stay the same color no matter what they ate.

"Carlisle, Eleazar?" Jasper called when he entered from the anteroom. "It appears we have some guests."

I had never used that word in my life, anteroom, but it was what Esme liked the entryway called and I liked to please her. She just had this motherly way about her, even to me and Seth.

"Welcome," Carlisle said diplomatically with a welcoming smile to the two South Americans who I already knew somewhat, "we are very pleased to see you two again Nahuel and Huilen, and who is this gorgeous young lady?"  
No sooner did she step forward than something changed in Seth. The way he looked at her, it reminded me of when I saw… then it hit me. _Seth imprinted on a bloodsucker,_ I thought. It was impossible, but then I noticed something else about her again. Her eyes had a human color and she had a heart beat. She smelled a little like Nahuel and Ness. Clearly she was one of the other half vampires that that other bastard had bred.

"This is Jennifer," Edward said obviously hearing through Seth's mind his thoughts about her. "Apparently there's been… a development with the Volturi."

I felt Seth's anger start to trigger a phase, but quickly stopped him. His imprintee was in pain and I knew all too well that he'd do anything to lessen her pain.

Jennifer started to snarl at the sound of the word Volturi; hell, I didn't like it either, but with the skills they had, it wasn't a fight I was particularly eager to engage in, even with Bella being able to block some of their attacks.

"That's a bit of an understatement," Jennifer snapped towards him. She was pissed, more than that. "Those bastards killed my family. I won't rest until they've paid for that."

Nahuel tried to calm his half-sister, but it wouldn't do any good. She knew that he was loyal to Huilen and not their father like the rest of his sisters had been. But then her eyes caught Bella and she must have believe the story that Nahuel had told her. Their father really didn't care about their mothers; humans were simply pawns for him to experiment with or feed on. He could have chosen to save them if he wanted to, but he so obviously didn't.

"Start at the beginning please," Carlisle said. "Why do you think the Volturi are to blame for killing your family?"

Jennifer snarled again. This wasn't something that someone would make up. "I saw them. Besides, who else would have, and father said that if anyone ever was able to make one writhe in pain without touching them it was one of those damned witch twins, and whoever could should run as far and fast as possible."

"They must have had their reasons," Eleazar said. He had to have been trying to find any justification for it, but as we knew from the standoff in the meadow last time, they rarely did.

"They didn't," Jennifer snapped back. "They killed them for the hell of it."

"Please tell us how and anything you heard them say," Carlisle asked. I assumed he was trying to gather proof that the Italian leeches were what we all knew they were; power-hungry murderers.

"I was out hunting in the village around where we had set up camp for the time. I hated living as a nomad, but father said there was no other way for us. To be inconspicuous, we had to move around often, but he always attempted to mate with a human woman before he left. He even asked us to try and mate with a male in the hopes of finding out if we could bear children. I never tried, but my sisters did but they never conceived and they always killed their mate before they left.

"We were staying in, I think it was Croatia when they caught us. I hadn't fed in a while, and with the help of Nahuel I tried the non traditional diet. It wasn't easy, but I could stick to it if there were carnivores around. The rest of my family wouldn't even try it; they viewed it as a waste of effort. Humans were there for our needs, while we were their gods; their betters. While part of that might be true, it wasn't right to indiscriminately kill humans for nothing more than sustenance when another option was out there."

Carlisle smiled at the impact of meeting Huilen and Nahuel. He had turned many into vegetarians, as they put it, simply by talking to them; showing them that with a small sacrifice having a permanent residence was possible.

Jennifer continued, "I came back from my hunt. My father and sisters had no interest in changing their diet. That's when I saw them on the ground not moving at all as this haze engulfed them. Then slowly a large one started ripping them to shreds and burned them." She started to cry at the memory, "I can still hear their shrieks and screams." Nahuel embraced his sister as Seth slowly approached them and offered his hand in sympathy. To my surprise, when his hand touched this girl, she calmed down. Then Seth instinctively wrapped her in his arms and she started sobbing more.

"Let it out, Jenny," Seth said with tears in his eyes from seeing the girl he'd imprinted on so upset. I understood what was happening; once a wolf imprinted they would do anything to stop the suffering of their imprintee. "Shh," he said rubbing her back as he held her. Nahuel looked almost jealous of how easily Jennifer started to calm down from Seth's touch.

"Easy Seth," I cautioned looking at the scowl on Nahuel's face, but he just looked up for a second before putting his focus back on Jennifer.

All of the rest of us, besides those two went into Carlisle's office to discuss what we thought this all meant.

"Obviously the Volturi finally felt it appropriate to act against Joham for exposing the vampire world to too much possible exposure with humans," Eleazar said trying to justify the actions of his former friends. "Intentionally impregnating human females for the sole purpose of seeing the results was a foolish experiment."

Edward growled at Eleazar, and I couldn't really blame him. "Are you forgetting about me?"

"You never intended to see if you could have a child with Bella, and even after Bella conceived, you wanted to terminate the fetus to ensure Bella's health. This Joham only sought to create half-vampire children regardless of the consequences. If he had created only the first child, to see if it was even a possibility and then never again tried, the Volturi probably would have had no reason to act. Think of the risk, Edward. The female's family would have observed her becoming weaker and weaker by the day, the pregnancy lasting weeks not months, and then the child literally ripping itself from its mother's womb."

Apparently this was too much for Nahuel as he left the room in tears from remembering all of the horrible things he did to his own mother. Huilen and Jasper followed him outside to, I assumed help him feel better.

Eleazar didn't let his reasoning stop because of their absence. "And let us not forget about what the child would be capable of after the birth. Renesmee was able to walk in weeks, and speak fluently shortly after that. Humans would rightly be suspicious."

"But the children were innocent," Bella pled with Eleazar.

"More than likely, the normal contingent of the guard was sent; Jane, Alec, Felix, and Dimitri. They don't ask questions; they simply destroy, especially Felix. I would assume that Chelsea wasn't with them since if she was, Aro would have welcomed the opportunity to add the three half vampires to his collection. It's fortunate that the youngest was able to escape, but the guard had no choice in this matter. Joham needed to be eliminated to keep him from ever again trying to procreate. The children were simply unfortunate casualties."

"Mighty cold of you bloodsucker," Sam countered, his tone completely devoid of any bitterness but cutting nonetheless. Apparently the elder of the Alaskans didn't find it offensive. He simply nodded at him. "I mean to execute children for no crime, that's not right."

"Many times there simply isn't a choice," Eleazar's voice soft but firm said. "It would be more dangerous to simply execute the condemned and then have the others fight to save him. In the end, sometimes proactively striking the entire coven is the only option. Wouldn't you agree, shape-shifter?"

Sam nodded. I knew that Eleazar was right, no matter how cold it was, we proactively tried to kill leeches before they could hurt anyone under our protection.

"Why would this Chelsea have mattered?" I asked trying to shift the conversation back on target, and that was the fight that was sure to come with the Italians.

"Chelsea's talent is to alter the ties to each other that people feel," Eleazar explained. "If Chelsea could have altered the desire for the other children to defend their father, then it might have been possible that they could have been spared. Alas, since they tried to defend him, the Guard had no other option but to destroy them."

His logic, cold as it was, made sense. I still wondered though why they wanted to destroy us all in the clearing a few years ago. And were we hopelessly sentenced to a fight with them when they returned in a few days, or could they be swayed again? I knew my brothers; I knew the Cullens. We would defend our families to the very last one of us standing.

There was something else I needed to check on while I was here. Two days ago, I called Carlisle and asked him to come to the hospital on the Rez to check out Emily. She was having a hard time with her first pregnancy, and I begged him to try and help them. He agreed; not really a surprise in the aftermath of the last few years.

"Doc, can I have a few minutes?" I asked hoping to get some time with him and Sam. He nodded and the three of us stepped outside the house. On the way through the living room, I was glad to see Seth and Jennifer still talking as the two of them sat on the couch. I was happy that he and Leah had both found their imprints. It made life easier, since now in my pack that only left Embry to find his mate. "So, doc, how's Emily and the baby?"

He looked at Sam, I assumed wondering if he should share this with me but Sam nodded and Carlisle said, "Emily is doing fine, all things considered. She just had a bad case of gestational hypoglycemia, but she's doing fine now. Her blood sugar was as low as 50 when she arrived at the hospital and they were afraid they'd lose both of them, but they were able to quickly get sugar in her and she stabilized. With the advanced stage of her pregnancy it was a concern, so I decided the best option was to deliver the baby now by caesarean section. She was only four weeks premature, but there still were complications from Emily's extremely low blood sugar.

"I saw Emily this morning before sunrise on my way back from the Forks hospital. She's fine, and the baby is fighting, but doing okay. We had to transfer her to the county hospital in Port Angeles, but last I heard a few hours ago, she's largely out of the woods. We don't have a very good NICU in Forks or on the reservation, so air lifting her to Port Angeles was the best option short of taking her to Seattle of Tacoma."

"A girl?" I asked Sam who had a proud smile on his face.

"Little Sarah," Sam answered giving him the baby's name. "Sarah Allison Uley."

I gasped; he named his first born after my mom, something I in no way deserved after all I did to betray his trust.

"It was the least I could do, Jake," Sam said sounding more sullen than I ever heard him before. "You showed me the truth about our new allies here," he said as he graciously smiled at Carlisle. "I never thought that the hatred between us, the Cullens and the tribe was unjustified, but now I know. That doesn't matter any more because now we have a bigger problem."

"What is that?" Carlisle asked.

"The Italian leeches," he answered, the rage still apparent in his voice. "For what they did to those innocent girls, there is only one fitting punishment for it. As far as I'm concerned, they've signed their own death warrants."

"Sam," I cautioned but he wouldn't let me continue.

"No. The Volturi must die. They've crossed the line for the last time. Eleazar was right; there might have been a reasonable justification for the father's execution, but not the children. I swear on my daughter's life, that the Italians will pay for their crimes this time."

"Let us hope it doesn't come to that," Carlisle said hopefully, but I had a feeling that Sam was right. They wouldn't listen to an airing of grievances and would probably just attack. "And apparently they have been busy the last few years, adding new talented ones to the guard. Edward fears that they might have one who can even neutralize Bella's ability."

"Well that's just great," I whispered sarcastically. That was all we needed; someone who could get through that thing that Bella could do would be really bad news for us.

"Yes it is," Carlisle answered apparently not picking up the sarcasm in my voice. "I doubt this time they will be rationed with. Alice only sees the guard coming, not any of the ancients. They don't listen to pleas."

This just kept getting better. We'd have a fight on our hands this time; something that some of the newer ones might welcome, but we'd still all need a little refresher on them. "Carlisle?" I asked at which he looked back at me. "I think it might be helpful if you reminded us of what they could do. It's been a while, and we do have some newer members of the packs who might not know all about killing vampires, since the only ones many of them know are you guys."

He nodded in gratitude. "Agreed. Can you send the ones who feel the need tonight, say about 3:00?"

Both of us nodded. In truth, all of us probably would come. Sam was the only was I really wasn't sure about. "Should I bring Austin?"

"Of course," Carlisle said again with a smile. "He may be new to this life, but he might be an asset, depending on how he takes to his training. Any way, this is information he probably should have anyway."

We would all come that night. While it wasn't necessary for all of us to come, I still assumed that strong majority would want to come. All would have their choice, and since we would be coming back later, I encouraged Seth to stay behind with his new found imprintee, and I couldn't be happier for him.

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 **AN:** Okay everyone. I want to thank everyone for almost 10K views, but I'd love reviews even more. Please let me know what you think. Now the bad news, well maybe not bad but I'm going to take a break until the new year with any updates to this story so I can focus on another project that I started, and that's a sequel to L &D, where Beau ends up with things he didn't even know he could have asked for, and he really gets his happily ever after, even if takes having to deal with Victor and his army. I hope everyone has a blessed Holiday season, regardless of which holidays you choose to celebrate.


	21. The Keeper of the Magic

**AN:** Hello again everyone. I know it's been a few months, but know that I have every intention of seeing this story through to its conclusion. It's just I've been dealing with some writer's block and also distracted by other projects and work. I have no set update schedule but this chapter's draft has been done for a while. Hope you all enjoy and please let me know what you think.

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Chapter 21

The Keeper of the Magic

(Charlie)

The last week had been fantastic. Not only had I asked Tanya to marry me, but she said yes. It was quiet at their Alaskan home, which gave the two of us the chance to just sit and talk about our dreams for the future; both of ours plans now including the other. I met the other two vampires, of whom I wasn't aware of. Another couple, Kate and Garrett, the latter which amazed me with stories from as far back as the revolutionary war. I was amazed at the history he told me, things that books could only imagine but he had witnessed first hand. He actually met many of the founding fathers, including serving as a guide for Thomas Paine and many other pamphleteers. In fact, Garrett still possessed a copy of _Common Sense_ from the original printing run that was in amazing condition. He was new to the vegetarian lifestyle and had some issues with the dietary restrictions but was making an honest attempt. The most bizarre thing that he did tell me was that there were many figures in history that he came extremely close to biting but was normally denied the taste by a well timed, well for the human at least, bullet.

And then there was getting to know Carmen better. She reminded me a lot of my own mother and just had this calming way about her. I could see why Eleazar was so attracted to her; it was so easy to like her, very similar to the way Esme was. Kate was a little more difficult to figure out. She was more guarded, but after a few hours of talking together, she finally opened up. It didn't take long to understand why all of the sisters became fervent supporters of the Volturi's justice after their mother and brother were slaughtered for committing the ultimate taboo. That was why, after seeing that there was no way to satiate Vasilli's appetite, they understood why the ban on vampire children was created. If secrecy was as important to this world, as they claimed that it was I could respect that. After all, many of the vampires still hunted people, so that technically made them murderers not that any human police force would be able to enforce said law. Garrett explained that to the majority, humans were to be seen as nothing more than cattle for a passing army. The way he explained it was just so blasé that it almost made me shiver. How could anyone talk of mass murder like it was no big deal?

Garrett explained that the attitude towards humans was caused simply because that many of us simply saw themselves as superior to humans. Without a sincere reason to try the non-traditional diet, many wouldn't even attempt it. Kate was Garrett's reason, while Tanya finally was disgusted in the suffering she caused her victims. She in time convinced her sisters after speaking to Carlisle that a peaceful coexistence with humans was possible and worth the temptation.

But still I wondered. True, vampires had hidden for millennia but would it be possible for our kind, it still kind of felt weird to think of me as no longer human, would it be possible for us to expose ourselves to most receptive humans? For those of us on the non traditional diet, it might be a possibility. But there was only one way that could happen. Slowly I began to read a copy of the Declaration of Independence.

'When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature an of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.'

Nobody was exactly sure how long the Volturi had ruled, but what if the consent of the governed had left them? What if our kind was ripe for revolution? A conservative revolution. The French and American revolutions were nothing alike. In France, the people simply traded the tyranny of the monarchy for that of ultimately Napoleon. But in America, I learned more from talking to Garrett, the people threw off the chains of the monarchy and adopted republicanism. Liberty replaced tyranny and maybe history would repeat itself. This could be a risky proposition, but what if our kind was ready for what was to follow the monarchical Volturi with a more republican system of government? It was something to maybe discuss with Carlisle but after hearing from Garrett about their struggle with the Volturi a few years ago, he would definitely be on my side.

The five of us loaded into a large, darkly tinted Suburban and left for Forks shortly after nightfall. Tanya drove, while I simply couldn't stop staring at her. Even with the faint light that came through the tint, her skin still shone like a million points of light were emanating from within her. It still stunned me with her simplistic beauty. If I lived for a thousand years, I don't think I could ever get tired of just watching her. She must have noticed me staring a few times, because the smile she flashed was absolutely dazzling.

The drive from Denali to Forks took much shorter than I ever thought possible; hell we made it in only twelve hours. I was surprised to see more vampires than I had seen before. Not only was a dark haired, bronzed skinned woman who looked to be from somewhere in South America there, in addition to Zafrina and her sisters, but there were also two other younger adults who while their appearance held some sense of vampiric nature and at the same time they looked to have some traits of humanity. That's when I realized that they were some of the half vampires that the sadistic one had created.

"Charlie, please let us explain," Edward said as he must have been sensing my thoughts. I was pissed. Bella had told me that the other creator of the children at first had done so out of curiosity, but when he continued attempting to create more of them he did so with the hopes of creating a superior race. I didn't want to look at him in any way other than with disgust. "Charlie, we've never met their father so we cannot know what his true intentions were."

The male hybrid growled at Edward who further explained, "I don't know exactly what he was thinking, but I did have an assumption. He only cared about gaining pleasure and if a child was created from that it was even better."

My thoughts were correct; the other one creating vampire hybrid children really was a monster. Just then, entering the clearing was almost twenty huge wolves, plus another four or five of the young Quileutes as humans plus one more person I was absolutely stunned to see. In addition, Billy Black was walking; no running at a speed I had never seen from him. He came to me and hugged me like we were long lost brothers.

"Charlie!" he yelled as he patted my back with his bro hug. "Damn you look good."

"It's good to see you too, but how the hell are you walking?"

Billy shrugged. "Don't really know."

There was only one reason he'd be here right now. "So you were a wolf too?"

"Briefly," he said as I hoped he would share the story with me. I was relieved when he did. "I was four; that was the first time I saw my grandfather burst into his wolf form. When he first did it, it scared the living hell out of me but then he lifted me with his teeth, throwing me onto his back and took me for a ride." Billy smiled widely at the memory and I returned it. It was beyond great to be still so friendly with him after all that had passed. "My father never knew about that part since he didn't develop the ability since when he was in the right age, which is normally between about sixteen and twenty-one, no vampires visited the area.

My grandfather, Ephraim, prepared me for the possibility as soon as I was ten. He had no way to know when or if I would be exposed to one of the Cullens or some other vampire. But after hearing the legends and everything, I was ready for it; I wanted to be a mythical hero and couldn't stop reading wolf-man comics. My dad thought it was just a phase; that even though his father could shift, no vampires had been on our land for decades and they wouldn't come back when I would be vulnerable.

"The night I was exposed was just after my fourteenth birthday. I was visiting with my grandfather and all of a sudden he ran off for no reason that I could figure out at the time. I looked outside and heard Ephraim, Levi Uley, and Quil Ateara II all phased and started running. A part of me wanted to follow after, but grandpa ordered me to stay. I didn't know why, but something about the way he said it almost made it impossible for me to disobey. I know now that he was using his alpha voice on me. The three of them all returned a few hours later, laughing and joking. I still wasn't sure what happened to the bloodsucker they found, as they never told me.

"My first phase was amazing, taking place about a month later. Grandpa Ephraim was so proud of me, with my deep russet fur and golden eyes, he said that I looked like a fitting successors for him as alpha. But it didn't last. Every time that I phased I always heard scoffing and snickering towards me. About two months after I first phased, Ephraim was killed. He was accidentally shot by a hunter while out running. The bullet was well placed, piercing his heart. In fact that is pretty much the only way that one of us can be killed.

After my grandpa died, I had no more reason to want to be a wolf. I gave it up. It didn't help that Levi and Quil resented my birthright claim as the new alpha. I was barely sixteen at the time and they didn't want to follow me and did everything they could to turn on me. By the time Harry, young Quil's dad, and Sue phased, it was too late. I couldn't remember how to any more and there was no one to teach me.

"I ended up embracing the peaceful life, as all of them did not long after their kids were born. All of us ended up not wanting our kids to have to go through this, but when the Cullens came back we knew what it meant. Sam was the first, but since the Cullens appeared to be putting down roots, we knew that the pack would be very large. Still, the thirty-some we have has been a little overwhelming."

"But how are you walking?" I asked still wanting to know about the most important thing I thought about. Billy had been confined to his wheelchair for the last ten years or so, after his diabetes had taken away the use of his legs

"I don't know," Billy answered looking deep in thought.

Edward gasped from across the clearing. "That must be it."

"What?" I asked. Whose thoughts did he hear?

"The last phase of Taha Aki," Edward whispered looking at Jacob and then back to Billy. "Even though it's been long since your last phase, your wolf must be waking up."

Billy gasped, his eyes open wide.

"What's he talking about Billy?" I asked not completely sure what was going on.

"You remember the story, right?" Billy asked looking slightly annoyed that he'd have to retell it, especially to all of the vampires he didn't know all that well.

Of course I did. When the last wolf son of Taha Aki was about to be killed, his wife sacrificed herself by slicing her wrists which distracted the vampire who was attacking the village. "Oh," I gasped remembering the part of the story he must of wanted me to. "Even though it had been more than a decade since his last shift, the sacrifice of his wife caused him to burst into a wolf."

"Exactly," Billy said. "I'm not sure what has triggered me to begin the transition, but my legs feel stronger than they had in decades. But I still don't remember how to change. Sam's been trying to trigger me, but to this point it's done no good. Maybe I'll remember one day."

"I hope so, Billy." I really did. I missed my friend and if he would be able to join the world of the supernatural that would be a great bonus to what had happened in the last few months.

It was then that I noticed several wolves that I didn't know from before and even one other paleface, as Billy would call him, observing the activities of the evening. I recognized him from around town as Austin Marks, Ben Cheney's best friend, wrapped in the arms of Leah. "What's Austin doing here?" I finally asked Billy as Jasper and Emmett were sparring again.

"He and I are related. I just didn't know it until very recently. For some reason he phased for the first time while Leah just happened to be out east looking at colleges."

I did the math in an instant. That meant that Austin had the same genetic quirk that Billy and Jake did. "So he's a werewolf too?"

Billy nodded but his eyes dropped like he was a little disappointed. "It might make life more difficult if distant relatives could be triggered while they are far away from the reservation. But, so far, Austin is the only one who is more than one generation removed from the tribe to shift."

That's when I looked around the clearing again and noticed Esme was missing. I walked over to Bella, who had Renesmee in her arms. It looked awkward, Bella's tiny frame cradling her daughter who was barely shorter than she was now. "Hey kiddo," I said as I hugged my daughter, being careful not to disturb Ness who was asleep. It looked strange, seeing Bella hold Renesmee still as she slept even thought my granddaughter was almost as big as Bella was.

"Hey dad," she answered smiling. "How was Alaska?"

"Great. Tanya said yes when I asked her to marry me, and Garrett has so many stories to tell. The hunting was really great too." Polar bear was quickly becoming my favorite, and with the remoteness of where Tanya's family lived, it wasn't uncommon for them to go years without interacting with any humans.

"That's good," she added smiling as Ness began to stir just a little in her arms. Nessie was now looking like she was well into her teen years and there were a couple of questions that I hadn't had the courage to ask about, namely could she bear children. That meant getting into a discussion that I didn't want to have. "It's been kind of crazy around here though."

"Yeah, I'll bet." I did another quick look around the clearing and still couldn't see Esme. "Hey Bells, where's Esme?"

"She's back at the house with Ang," she said with a nervous look on her face.

"Ang," I said followed by thinking, _did that mean_ , before saying again, "as in Angela Weber?" I asked sounding even more worried than she was. What could have happened to her in the past few weeks that Jacob had allowed them to change her?

"Yep," Bella answered looking at the ground. She was embarrassed about something; that I knew. "Long story, but when she came back to town a week ago or so another vampire had gone after her but Jake and Nessie were able to save her. Unfortunately it was a little too late and she'd already been bitten."

"Poor Ben," I mumbled since I had seen Angela before I left for Alaska, when she asked Alice to do their wedding.

"He's taken it quite well," Bella said which surprised the hell out of me.

"He knows?" I gasped.

Bella nodded nervously. "We kinda had to tell him. I mean his roommate is a werewolf and his fiancée is gonna be a vampire. He's kinda involved."

I laughed, trying to let it go. But Bella was right. "So are you guys?"

Bella stopped me before I could finish the question. She knew that I meant are they going to change Ben. "Someday. Alice has seen it, but the timeframe isn't definite yet."

"So what's up with all of this?" I asked pointing at the sparring going on. A silver wolf was sparring with Jasper, who was dodging the attacks with relative ease. It looked kind of strange to see them going at each other one on one. The wolves generally hunted vampires in their packs.

"The Volturi," she whispered. "They're coming back, we think, because the vampire that bit Angela was a member of their guard. We have to get ready for them, especially the new werewolves."

Just then, Alice let out a large gasp and bolted back into the woods towards the house. It wasn't long after that, but all of us began to follow after her. Edward was next to me before I realized why we were running so I asked him about it.

"Angela's about to wake up," he answered calmly. "We've got at most five minutes. I can hear her heartbeat accelerating."

By the time we had stepped onto the Cullen's lawn, I had heard Angela's pained shrieks many times. I could definitely feel for her, as hearing the pace of her heart along with the screams reminded me of my own conversion.

I remembered my own burning, which had been uncomfortable but not unbearable until the very end. Angela would be going through the very worse part of the change now. It wasn't fair to her or her family. I remembered how hard this all was on me, when I thought Bella was really sick but in reality she was pregnant with Ness. It wouldn't be fair to Allen or Cynthia, Angela's parents, or her brothers, both of whom were probably at the age where they'd think it was pretty cool that she was a vampire.

By the time we made it to the house, there was nothing but silence for a few seconds, followed by feral snarls coming from Carlisle's office. I distinctly heard the sound of furniture being broken.

Bella and I decided to stay downstairs. We both looked at each other waiting on Edward and Jasper to come back downstairs.

Clear as a bell, I heard Carlisle trying to explain everything to Angela. He offered her a small pouch of blood that I could smell from downstairs; rich, tangy blood. It was bovine. I had learned to differentiate some kinds of blood and I felt my own throat start to burn with thirst but I knew I needed to control myself. Carlisle, Jasper, and Edward had their hands full enough with just Angela.

After I heard the slurping of the pouch that Angela fed from, I could hear her sobs. She couldn't stop apologizing to all of them for the trouble she caused. Naturally, Carlisle tried to forgive her but she wouldn't forgive herself right away.

"You'll get past it Angie," I heard Alice say. "The first few months are the hardest, but after that everything gets easier."

Angela still was sobbing. She was embarrassed and ashamed and I could imagine why. Those first few moments after the conversion was incredibly dizzying but then slowly my mind was able to catalog what I was experiencing.

"We'll teach you," Carlisle said, his soft tenor voice absolutely genuine.

"We'll all help you," Alice added.

"Bella?" A strange new high bell-like soprano rang with absolute clarity. It was absolutely hypnotizing. I knew this had to be Angela. Of course she would want Bella. Who else would be best equipped to help her through all of the weirdness going on now? But still, for Angela's family the loss of their daughter would cut them to the very core. I was certain that the Cullens would think of something, some lie that would pacify them for the short term. But the only way that they could know the whole truth would be if the Volturi were forced from power. It was time to throw off the chains of the Volturi and allow the various covens to choose how they lived and who they told the truth to.


	22. Training

**Author's Note:** Hello everyone again. I know it's been a long time, as I've gotten distracted by other projects and work but rest assure that I have every intention of finishing this story.

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Chapter 22

Training

(Charlie)

The training was rather uneventful, almost boring other than the time I spent sparring. Jasper and Emmett mostly took turns sparring with some of the wolves and even showed me a couple of things. While I was still incredibly new to this life, I had picked up a lot of tricks. It surprised me how much fun this all was. I had expected from what the Cullens told me that I'd be more animal than rational being for the first few months, but I'd come through much like I was when I was human soon after that. But I found out shortly after my change was done that Bella had confidence in me; confidence that I'd been just as good as she had been.

We were missing Bella and Angela, who were off on Angela's first hunt and also Esme stayed behind in the house. I wondered how far they would go to keep her away from temptation. Granted, her first feeding from the slaughtered animal would be enough to slack her initial thirst, she would need to hunt on her own to learn how to control her new instincts. That had been the hardest thing I had to so when hunting; shutting off the hunting instinct when I needed to. I wondered what she would find as her favorite tasting animal.

"Impressive," Jasper complimented when I dodged his attacks for almost three minutes before he was able to surprise me when it was my turn again. But that had been a rouse. His compliment had one goal in mind and that was that it distracted me. He helped me off the ground where now a three foot crater existed from where he tackled me. "But you took your eyes off you opponent. That's the one mistake you must never make."

Bella had taken Angela into the forests to hunt. A couple of the others had wanted to come as well to make sure that Angela wouldn't be overly tempted in her first day as a vampire, but Bella was confident that at the current hour- it was long after midnight and on a Tuesday no less- that no humans would be in the forests. That and it was unusually cold for late October.

We kept sparring. Jasper was an excellent teacher and he kept using strikes that were as quick and deadly as a cobra. After about an hour I was able to read his moves and even counter some of them. He still largely had the upper hand, but I was slowly becoming more and more used to his attacks.

I looked at Garrett. He had been the one teaching me in Alaska. I could tell after a few sessions that Jasper was even better at hand to hand combat that Garrett was and wondered if I might pick up a few things from just watching the two of them.

"Garrett?" Edward asked, as he looked expectantly at Jasper and me.

"Yes Edward?" Garrett's voice having a little too much eagerness in it.

"You up for a little exhibition?"

Garrett's face lit up with anticipation. I knew from being with the Alaskans how much Garrett loved to spar, not that there was anyone in Alaska who could compare to his skill in hand to hand. "You or Jasper?" He asked.

Jasper also smiled expectantly. "Your choice," Jasper answered.

Garrett faced off with Jasper as the two began to circle each other as I backed away from the two of them and back towards Edward. The two moved so fast that before I became a vampire there would have been no way that I would have been able to see them. Now however, it was only two easy to focus the two of them.

Their strikes looked like that of the most venomous of snakes; quick, powerful, and most importantly deadly. Had they attacked a human with half of the force they did, he would had been instantly paralyzed at best.

"Five hundred on Jasper," I heard Emmett's booming bass from behind me.

It wasn't long before a lovely voice answered him. "You're on," Kate answered in reply.

I heard Edward sigh and then roll his eyes. "You'll never learn, will you Emmett?"

"What?"

Again Edward shook his head. "He's got a little bit of a gambling problem," Edward said to me focusing back on the two sparring vampires. "See how Jasper keeps Garrett just far enough away to make Jasper have enough time to react to the instinct to attack. It's part of Jasper's talent. He can sense the building rage in his opponent and that will give him time to prepare for the strike."

"Not quite as effective as mind reading though, is it?" I quipped back to a sly chuckle from Edward.

"Cheater," Emmett muttered in protest as he and Kate were still talking trash about their chosen combatants.

Again, Edward laughed at his brother. "Emmett thinks that when I use my talent, it's cheating."

"Is so," Emmett protested again.

I joined Edward chuckling at how much of a child Emmett was being before after a couple of seconds, Emmett started crying from pain. "OWWWW! Rose, dammit. What the hell are you doing?"

I turned to see Rosalie have his right ear twisted in her hand, as Emmett's right hand held where it would have been on his head. "The two month old is acting like more of a grown up than your eighty year old ass is!" She snapped back at him with a scowl as she handed his ear back. Emmett gave it a lick and then place it back to his head where, like magic it began to reattach itself to his head. After a few seconds, Rosalie even playfully flicked it again.

"Dammit Rose! Stop that."

I heard the sound of snickering laughter coming from the wolves, and even Billy's deep guffaws.

"That's how the sparring ends, of course," Edward said focusing back on the fight, "one of them losing a major limb or being pinned. You just saw Emmett demonstrate how we can heal from such an injury almost instantly, although that wasn't Rosalie's intention there." He chuckled, no doubt from whatever Rosalie's true intentions were. "Reattaching an arm or leg will take a little longer, and of course it will hurt like the dickens but it won't leave any permanent scar."

Seeing that any attempts at offensive strikes was getting him no where, Garrett refocused his posture into more defensive one. It was a strategy he had shown me on many occasions that was effective when one was fighting someone who had a large advantage in either speed or strength. I couldn't even count how many times that he had used my own strength and momentum only to have me pinned before I realized it.

Garrett was baiting Jasper, something I was only too familiar with. In fact, that had been the most important part of the fight training I had received from him; let your opponent make the mistake and counterattack when he least expected it. It had gotten boring as the two of them just circled for almost three minutes before Jasper, no doubt triggered by impatience finally sprung at Garrett. At the last second, Garrett dropped down and used a move that I had seen many times watching professional wrestling; a perfect drop toe hold. At the last possible second, Garrett dropped down onto his stomach and tripped Jasper. It was only too easy for Garrett, with Jasper now prone on his stomach for him to be restrained. Garrett's left foot was now firmly planted on Jasper's right shoulder blade and he had Jasper's right arm trapped in both of his hands.

Curses came from the fallen vampire, followed by a metallic shriek as Garrett finally started to twist on his arm to detach it. I knew what Garrett was doing. When we sparred like this, after the first time when he yanked off one of my legs to show how much it hurt, he always gave me to opportunity to tap out before he removed whatever appendage he had at his mercy. Of course, he didn't want me always to tap, since I needed to learn how to escape such a position, which I was slowly learning. But this time I could see he was affording Jasper the same courtesy.

After waiting a few seconds to see Jasper would not submit, slowly Garrett twisted Jasper's arm to remove it, almost 180 degrees from normal. As the shrieks got move and more disturbed, Jasper finally relented.

"Alright, alright," the defeated vampire groaned. "You win this round."

A proud smile filled Garrett's face as he slowly twisted Jasper's arm back to its original position, and then helped his up by Jasper's other arm.

"Damn it!" Emmett cursed again. I knew how bad of a sore loser he could be when I heard how much he cursed when Bella had tricked him into betting her a car, after using Alice's help. Bella had filled me in on the specifics later, of course. That I had to be good. She had done it; not killed anyone in her first five years now as a vampire, so I was confident that I could as well. It hadn't been easy, as when I left a few weeks ago, I nearly killed Angela. But what saved me was that I was still very full from my first hunt. The thirst, while it flared up, did not over power me.

"That will be all for today," Edward said to the wolves. "While you are welcome to stay for as long as you wish, there will be no more training for tonight."

"Next time?" Austin asked as he still held Leah in his arms. It made me feel happy for her, knowing that even though both of her parents were gone, she had finally found someone worth sharing her life with. And not only that, but apparently Seth had found his imprint in one of the other half vampire hybrids. Everything had worked out so well for all my friends that, for the first time, I was hopeful in the future.

We all sat in the clearing as Carlisle and Esme returned. Not many of the wolves remained, as only Jacob, Seth, and Embry stayed. Apparently, Angela's and Bella's hunt had gone very well, even if Alice had to return to give Angela some new clothes. Angela, from what Esme had said had seemed to get more of her prey's blood on her clothes than in her mouth. The most important thing was the two of them hadn't gotten anywhere near any humans, so Angela didn't even face that temptation today.

Angela's eyes had darkened just a little bit, but were still a very vibrant red. I knew first hand how long they could take to darken as my eyes were still a light amber.

"You did great Ang," Bella said as she led her out with the rest of us.

"Your wardrobe would beg to differ," Alice sang back mockingly with a disapproving scowl.

"Don't listen to her," Bella joked back. She added, "Just remember, minimum size equals maximum annoyance."

Alice looked like she was about to pout but Bella just started laughing at her. "Come on Alice, you know I'm just teasing anyway."

"Not that it's not true," Edward countered with a snickering look on his face.

"Now don't pretend that you didn't enjoy your wedding, Edward," Alice started to defend herself.

Edward smiled at the little pixie like vampire. Even though Alice was very short her spirit always made her seem much larger than she really was.

"That's more like it," Alice belled as she had a huge smile on her face. Then she was looking into the future again and I wondered if she was focusing on the fight or something else. When she smiled, I knew that it couldn't be the Volturi she was seeing. "And you'll love your wedding too Angie."

Angela looked shocked, just completely taken aback by the fact that Alice was looking at something as trivial as her wedding when something much more crucial was in the much nearer future.

But then she was lost looking out over the horizon again. I knew what this meant; she was seeing another vision and all of us were aware that the best thing to do was let it play out so we could get the maximum amount of information from it as possible. Alice's face would show no indication of what she was seeing, but Edward's would. Almost all of looked at him as Alice was consumed by what she was seeing for almost three minutes before she violently shook her head, returning her consciousness to us.

"What is it, Alice?" Jasper asked as his arms instinctively wrapped around her to offer whatever comfort he could.

"They're all coming," Edward said for her as Alice still looked almost horrified by something she had seen. "The only ones that not certain of is the wives and their bodyguard."

"How long do we have?" Eleazar asked almost in horror.

"They'll leave Italy the day after tomorrow. They'll be in Seattle by Saturday."

"And here?" Carlisle asked.

"That's the other part that's not certain," Edward answered his father. "Aro plans to let them all hunt after they land in Seattle."

"We can't allow that," Carlisle answered, his voice completely solemn and resolved. I agreed with him. Maybe that was part of the reason why my control was as good as it was, I was as committed to protecting those around from what was out there. I had done it when I was a cop and there was no reason not to continue doing this.

"How do we stop them?" Jasper asked to Alice.

Jasper shrugged.

From what Garrett had told me, this would be the hardest thing we would have to do. The Volturi were incredibly gifted, led by the young twins. Of course, Bella could neutralize their gifts effects on us but still she couldn't be everywhere at once. That led to another thought. What if we sent for them when they landed? Alice would be able to see the exact moment of their landing, and Carlisle could possibly get his hands on enough donated human blood to, at the very least slack their thirst.

Edward looked up at me intrigued. "That's an interesting idea," he commented. "It just might work to keep humans in the area safe."

"Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?!" Emmett brayed, completely annoyed that he was behind.

"Later," Emmett answered. "Right now, Carlisle needs to start obtaining as much human blood as possible."

"Are you sure that's safe?" Esme asked looking right at Angela.

"I really can't be sure," Edward answered looking as concerned as Esme was, "but we cannot allow the Volturi to hunt anywhere within a hundred miles of here."

Esme relented since she knew Edward was right. They had to stay as inconspicuous as possible, knowing that any allegations could force their hands about a lot of things, up to and including murder. This had been the reason for the fight between Edward and his family after the accident with the van when Bella first came here. Bella knew something was very different about the Cullens after that but ended up falling in love with Edward as time passed. I really couldn't be mad about that anymore, since I had entered their world, first when I met Nessie for the first time, then even more so when Esme and Alice told me the whole truth. But still, we had to do everything in our power to protect the innocent. I had sworn an oath to that all those years ago when I first joined the police force. I would continue that now.


	23. The True Alpha

**AN:** Hello again everyone. This is a chapter I'd been waiting to write ever since I planned a new twist in this story a few chapters ago. Let me know what you guys all think. Reviews are always appreciated.

Also, unless otherwise stated, the rest of the story will be from Charlie's POV.

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Chapter 23

The True Alpha

Looking outside at the first light of a new day filled me with sense of confidence. It felt kind of strange; knowing that the most powerful vampire coven in the world would be in the area in only three more days and that they were coming to check up on my family. But with the visions that Alice had seen about the conflict, that there was a possibility that we'd all make it through unscathed, I thought that we might be able to have a happily ever after. But there would only be one way that could happen.

The Cullens had told me during my transformation about that time when the Volturi came four years ago, many of our kind saw them for what they really were, especially Aro and Caius, and that was power-hungry tyrants. Our kind was ripe for a revolution now; I was as confident as Garrett about this. But to free our kind, we would have to defeat the vampire royalty to have an entirely new system replace them.

Carlisle had been working throughout the night after we finished with our training with trying to contact as many of our friends as possible. So far he was able to get ahold of two from southern Africa and also a coven from Ireland. They were all coming as fast as they could to aid our family. In addition, we still had with us the four vampires from South America plus the two half vampire children who would no doubt help with the fight in any way they could. But still, I was nervous.

The Quileutes were also bound to help since Jacob was so much of a part of Nessie's life, and now with Seth being bound to Jennifer as well that only added to their obligation to help us. We needed as much help as we could get but I worried if even this display would be enough.

Billy had said before he left just after three in the morning that the wolves' population had exploded in the last few months, almost like the danger that was coming triggered more and more of the young to phase for the first time. Billy had been looking for it, watching carefully for the first signs of the coming change and, to this point had even seen it in a few of the girls. Their numbers were up to thirty-two now, including five girls, with even more expected soon.

But I was drawn back to Billy's recent changes. With him regaining most of his strength again, it was only a matter of time before he resumed changing into a wolf. If only there was a way to rush along his memory; to make him remember how to phase more quickly. Then it hit me.

Edward looked right at me with a gasp. "Interesting," he added at my thought.

"What?" Jacob mumbled, his mouth full of the bologna sandwich he was eating as he quickly gulped the mouthful down his gullet.

"But you better run it by Jacob first," Edward added.

"Run what by me?" He snapped, Jacob's mouth still sounding like he had a lot of bread in the roof of his mouth after loudly gulping down the bite that had been in his mouth. "Damn it, bloodsucker," he snarled at Edward, "will you ever let anyone else know what the hell is going on?"

Unlike many in Sam's pack, with Jacob and Seth especially there was normally no animosity when he called us that. It was simply just a nickname for us.

Renesmee was back at his side in a flash, no doubt noticing that his arms had been shaking. She wrapped her arms around his left and that quickly stopped his trembling, but I could see Edward's discomfort from having her so close to Jacob when he was so close to losing control of himself.

"It's my fault," I said trying to save Edward from Jacob's anger. "I was just trying to think of how to get your dad to… you know, turn into a wolf like you."

"Oh," Jacob said as he took another large bite from his sandwich, which to me smelled absolutely revolting. It was strange, I used to love bologna on white bread with a couple of dill pickles, but now all of my former favorites smelled like roadkill and tasted worse.

"So I was thinking that we could try attacking him… or someone else he cares about."

"You're gonna do what to my dad?!" Jacob screamed as he started trembling again, but Renesmee only gripped his arm tighter again. "I knew you were no better than these reeking leeches!" He screeched at me as he pointed towards where Jasper was.

"Not really attack him," I tried to defend myself. "Come on Jake, you know I'd never really hurt your dad but we need all the help we can get."

"Oh," again Jacob said realizing he had overreacted. I had to make him understand this; it was crucial.

"So either we go after your dad, or"

"Your sister," Edward finished for me since I could even utter it.

Rachael was involved in all of this weirdness since Paul had imprinted on her and even after hearing from old Quil and Billy that it was all real, and Paul even phasing in front of her, she still didn't believe it. She had come to accept it only recently when learning that the truth about the Cullens but, even more so Bella. She finally understood when Rachael understood that she and Bella were a lot alike, both loved by a supernatural being, with both having dreams of joining this world some day, even if no one was sure if the shifting wolves could bite others into their ranks.

"Yeah, Rach might be better," Jacob suggested but was lost in thought for a second but, as usual Edward answered his thought.

"Yes, of course we'd run it by Paul but no, she can't be aware of it."

"Damn it!" Jacob shouted again. "Stop racking around in my head!"

"Sorry," Edward answered looking contrite. "I don't do it on purpose."

"Why can't Rach be in on it?" Jacob asked calming himself again.  
"We need her reaction to be one hundred percent genuine," Edward answered, sounding completely confident in himself. "Think about it; your father must believe that his daughter is in the gravest of peril in order to trigger his anger for the necessity of protecting his daughter. Of course, we will explain it all to them later but, at the time, they must think that the danger is very real."

"Who should… ya know?"

We all looked at each other. There were good reasons for almost everyone, except Carlisle. The tribe had become more and more trusting of the doctor since the fight with the newborns and we wouldn't want to do anything to jeopardize that, even if it was in the best intentions of all of us. And Billy would never believe that Bella would be capable of such an attack on someone that she had known since she was a baby, so that really only left myself and Edward.

"Charlie," Edward answered again completely confident.

"But she knows that I'd never hurt her," I tried to defend myself. In truth, it wasn't just that but I never wanted to be put so close to temptation.

"The human you," Edward said again making his point confidently, "yes would never hurt her but the newborn vampire you; he might. She knows that you've been changed and I'm sure that Paul has told her how dangerous newborns can be. And you wouldn't really be hurting her, just scaring her; a lot like how Kate did during Bella's early shield training.

Jacob acquiesced but I could tell he still wasn't thrilled about it. He worried that we wouldn't be able to convince Paul that Rachael wouldn't really be in any danger, which I wasn't sure would be the case.

Paul had been reluctant and I couldn't exactly blame him for it. Hell, he nearly tore my head off when I even suggested going near Rachael but I could tell that he was trusting of Jacob's acceptance of it. While we all knew it would be difficult for Paul to be away from her in that potentially dangerous time I'd be near her, he also knew that Jacob wouldn't be far away; just far enough so that Billy wouldn't know Jake was nearby.

"I don't like it," Paul snarled when Edward brought it up. "What happens if he hurts Rachael if he does phase?" What was not mentioned was if I would hurt her, which I was confident would not happen but I was still worried that it might.

He knew that if it did work; Billy's first phase would be the dangerous part. The first phase tended to be the most violent and they became less so as the shapeshifting wolf learned how to control themselves during those first few seconds as an animal.

Jacob shrugged. He wasn't sure about any of this but knew that his dad would be a great benefit to our side in a fight. Back in his youth, Billy was one heck of a fighter and he could be again.

"You're not worried about you own sister?!" Paul snapped at Jacob.

"That ain't it," Jacob defended himself. "I'm scared shitless about this. I don't like it one bit but I don't think we have a choice here. We could really use my dad's help. I don't know what else to do here."

Paul relaxed but was still really tense. I was keyed up too. This would be the closest to anyone who was completely human I'd ever been by myself since my change. The chance of me slipping was high, I knew that. But I also knew that I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I actually hurt Rachael.

It was decided with Sam and Jacob that we would try it the following evening since it was supposed to be overcast and we wouldn't have to worry about the sun. Sam would take Paul and Jared on patrol, while Jake would be in his garage. He could phase and be at Rachael's aid in mere seconds, not that it would be fast enough if the real crazy newborn side of me showed up instead of only the acting one I was supposed to show.

Alice had gotten me some red contacts. I needed my eyes to look even more scary, like I might have slipped. They were really annoying as my strong new vampire eyes could make out every imperfection on the concave disk and they really irritated my eyes too.

"You'll have about two hours, Charlie," Alice told me as I placed them in my eyes. "The venom in your eyes will eat them away after that so I suggest you get a move on."

"Suggest?" I questioned her.

"Remember, I have issues seeing those dogs."

"Alice," I warned with a scowling growl. I really hated when the Cullens made jokes about Jake and his friends.

She laughed, a huge peel of bells filling the room. "Sorry," she sang, "But really, you need to get a move on."

I ran at full speed to the border where I found Sam with Paul and Jared. Even as a wolf, I could tell that Paul still didn't like this. I wasn't crazy about it either but we needed to try something.

With my red eyes I all but ripped the door of the hinges as I stormed into the living room where Rachael was watching TV. I had to terrify her; that was the only way this would work. I would apologize later, if she and Billy ever let me, but now was the time to scare the shit out of her. The fake blood on my lips was Alice's idea and I had to admit was a good one even if it did taste and smell really nasty.

I blurred in front of her and sounded as menacing as I could. "Mmm," I tried to sound as terrifying as possible, "you look… delicious. Good enough to eat."

Rachael screamed in absolute terror, which I guess was the point. She knew I had become a vampire, almost everyone on the reservation did but she did not know that I had been out of the area for the last month.

"What's wrong Rach?" Billy asked as he walked in to the room. He panicked as he saw me and I saw him trembling, his arms looking like tuning forks.

I leaned in, trying as hard as possible not to breathe. One more act; that would be all it took to trigger Billy. So I leaned into the side of her neck and acted like I was breathing in her scent. It was very tempting, even though I wasn't trying to smell her. The heat radiating off her skin was unbearable. She was right here, not even a second separated her from my razor-like teeth. I could have her so easily. And her blood, it smelled sweeter than any of the animals I had hunted in the past. The most forbidden of forbidden fruits.

"Get away from my daughter!" Billy screeched as the vibrating intensified.

I leaned in closer to her and I began to smell her fear; the adrenaline increasing the temptation of her blood. Slowly I leaned in to her neck to plant my lips on them. "Or you'll do what, old man?" I asked, my voice sounding completely sterile. _Come on Edward_ ,I said in my mental voice hoping he was close enough to hear me. I was losing the battle for my thirst but I had to be strong enough to rule it, not have it rule me. Venom pooled in my mouth as I searched her neck, making sure there was no exposed cuts or scars where my venom might accidentally leech into her bloodstream or worse, I might actually taste her. That would have been too much. Fortunately there were none.

I planted my lips on her neck, giving her a little kiss. It worked.

With the sound of ripping fabrics, Billy's human body was replaced by a wolf, sandy brown with hints of white on the ends of his fur as he began snarling and barking at me.

"Sorry Billy," I pled hoping reason would soon return to him. I was all the way in front of the door as he stood between me and Rachael who was still hysterical. "It wasn't my idea, but we needed you."

"Dad stop," Jacob yelled as Billy leapt for my face. It was easy to put my arms up to defend my neck but it felt wrong. Billy was my friend and I scared him in the worse way possible to make him this.

Billy was snarling and snapping as he was trying to escape from Jacob's grasp put luckily Jacob's hold had almost as steady as mine would have been. "Sorry about that Rachael," I said to her as she was still panting from the terror I had no doubt caused her. "It wasn't exactly my idea though." I didn't want to say that a part of it had been my idea, just not the complete plan that we used.

Billy stopped his snarling as he looked around for someone. He looked at his son for a second with his head sideways before I almost swore I heard him calling for Edward in a growl.

"Sorry Billy," Edward said as he came into the living room from outside. "We were out of ideas on how to get you to phase again."

With a shimmer of heat, Billy pulled himself up on his hind legs and was replaced by his human form completely naked. "This was your idea?" Billy roared, his voice firm with authority.

"Dad it wasn't his-" Jacob started by was cut off by Billy.

"Shut it!" Billy commanded with an even greater air of authority in his voice. It reminded me of the way Seth had said how Jacob's orders were given to his pack, a certain double tinder booming with an echo.

Jacob trembled, either out of fear or obedience, I wasn't sure which but was sure he wouldn't be able to disobey. "Leech get out of here now!" It was the first time that Billy ever used one of their disparaging terms about me.

Edward looked remorseful, almost embarrassed that we had to use this deception on him. "Rachael, your fine. Charlie's record is still clean. Look." He said as he pointed towards me.

I fished the contacts out of my eyes exposing my eyes that were almost gold but not quite and Rachael understood. "You jerk!" She said as she smacked Jacob on the nose with the rolled up magazine she had been reading before my ruse. "Paul's gonna give it to you good later."

We all knew that Paul was in on it; he was aware of what we were going to do. But he would give Rachael anything she asked for, including kicking the crap out of Jacob later- or at least trying. And Jacob would probably take it if it got his dad off his case for a little bit.

"You better leave now Charlie," Billy snarled still in his human form but he was starting to tremble again. "And don't ever try me like that again."

"Really dad," Jacob said, "it was-"

"I TOLD YOU TO SHUT IT!" Billy snapped at his son again and Jacob cowered on the floor in submission. "If I have to tell you again," he added, Billy's tone slightly more calmed now, "you'll live to regret it."

By now, Edward and I were just about to the border with the Quileutes, but we could still hear Billy reading the riot act to Jacob. I was relieved that Rachael seemed to have calmed down. Maybe one of these days, I'd be able to make it up to her.

Once across the line, it was easier to slow to what would have passed for a human's quick walk. "Did we make a mistake there?" I asked. I hope he'd affirm that we hadn't.

"I'm not sure. Give Jacob a few hours to try and calm him down."

I was worried that this stupid plan may have forever alienated my best friend.

"He'll get over it," Edward said trying to calm me down.

"Alice?" I hoped he had found out from her.

He shrugged. "Jacob will do everything he can and that's probably going to include taking a few snips from Paul."

I hoped he was right because losing them as allies in this, our most desperate time of need would be horrible. Granted a few new arrivals were due the next morning and the Amazons were physically impressive, not to mention that Zafrina was immensely talented and that would be a great assistance, we still needed more help. So far, we knew of about twenty who were on the way, many of whom had adopted Carlisle diet or, at the very least would try it while they were here.

Just then, I started to feel weird. There was no other way to describe it. I was told that vampires never got sick, but I felt like I was about to throw up and then almost collapsed but Edward caught me before I could. Extreme nausea overtook me.

"Are you okay Charlie?" Edward asked. That was the last thing I remembered hearing before I lost consciousness.

* * *

 **AN:** Uh-oh, what just happened to Charlie? Who has the ability to completely overpower a vampire like that? You'll find out next time, on the next exciting- sorry getting all of on my old '90s cartoon narrator's voice. Again, please let me know what you think.


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